Secret Agent Tam?
by TheHappyTrader
Summary: Shortly after the BDM, a pair of strangers who find our BDH's 'uniquely qualified' for job, hired/blackmail them. Freedom in the 'verse may lie in Simon's prowess as an undercover operative. Wait a minute, Simon?
1. Chapter 1

Ubiquitous Disclaimer: Not my 'verse, but I love it and want to see more of it!

Chapter 1

Zoe had always been a survivor. She survived serenity valley and the aftermath of Miranda. She roamed through Serenity most days with her face set in a mask of stone as she carried within an iron resolve to fulfill a promise she made to herself and her late husband. She would survive today and tomorrow until she could learn how to live again. As she entered the cargo bay via the galley, sweet laughter that could only belong to Kaylee entered her ears. She smiled sadly as she leaned over the catwalk's railing and took in the curious scene below her.

* * *

Simon and Kaylee casually lounged in the front two seats of the hovermule, holding a bowl of popcorn between them. Kaylee had temporarily 'upgraded' the mule to house a video projector which was currently projecting a movie featuring cowboys and robots onto a bed sheet hanging five feet in front of the couple. The film itself was largely irrelevant as Simon and Kaylee spent most of their time and attention on each other.

Kaylee snuggled closer to Simon and rested her head on his shoulder as she said, "I know this ain't no opera, but I wanted ya to take me on a date."

Simon laughed, unable to contain his smile if he wanted to and said, "Not that I'm complaining, but wouldn't that make it my responsibility to plan our evening?"

Kaylee sat up to face him and said, "Simon Tam, I have waited too long for this," as she playfully poked him in the chest. "You think I'd go 'n ruin it by placin' you in charge? Now pay attention Mr. Top Three Percent and learn how to treat a lady."

If he had not failed so spectacularly in the past, Simon might have been offended by that statement. _Well, maybe if it came from someone other than Kaylee_ he amended in his thoughts. Simon responded in a mock serious tone "I'm trying Kaylee, I really am… it's just… the robots… they don't make any sense to me."

Kaylee rolled her eyes and said "Ya don't take a girl to a drive in to watch the movie! " When Simon began laughing her features instantly brightened."Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing! Simon! A joke! There may just be hope for you yet!"

Simon stifled his laughter and asked, "Are you sure the Captain won't mind what you've done to the hover mule?"

Kaylee answered with a Jayne impression "Cap'n said to fix the mule. He was nonspecific as to the how."

* * *

Captain Malcolm Reynolds walked through the galley, thinking about how empty _Serenity_ seemed at the moment. He nearly jumped out of his skin when River appeared in front of him during a moment of inattention. He shouted, "Wuo duh tian ah Hey there lil' albatross," as he attempted to cover his surprise.

"The Mule has been modified. I thought you should know," River informed.

Mal walked around River to continue towards the cargo bay and said, "Uh, 'preciate that, but I already knew Kaylee was gonna fix it."

"Don't get mad," River said.

Mal stopped in his tracks, not looking the least bit amused. "There somethin' else I should know about?" he asked River.

An excited grin covered her face as she exclaimed "Simon's taking Kaylee on a date!"

"Is he now?" Mal said with a small smile, though still not appearing amused. "When's he planin' on askin' permission to leave my boat with my mule and mechanic?"

River looked at Mal as if she did not understand his question. "Date's already started."

A flash of annoyance crossed over Mal's face as he ran into the cargo bay, nearly colliding with Zoe who was still leaning over the railing.

Without flinching or even turning around, Zoe calmly asked, "Something the matter, Sir?"

"You're gorram right there is!-" Mal cut himself off as he saw Simon and Kaylee, who were now sharing one of the front seats of the hovermule and a bowl of popcorn. "-No. No problem at all," Mal finished as ne crept stealthily towards the hovermule .

Without warning, Mal jumped into the seat Kaylee had recently vacated in favor of Simon's, startling the young doctor and causing popcorn to fly in every direction.

Kalyee turned around in Simon's lap and greeted Mal with a smile made of sunshine. "Hey, Captain."

Mal stared daggers at a nervous looking Simon until his glare was interrupted by River's voice, which startled all of them as it sounded directly behind them. River chastised, "Didn't ask daddy's permission. Not Smart." No one heard River enter the seat directly behind Simon and Kaylee. Simon did not have to be a psychic to know River was silently calling him a 'boob.'

Mal ignored River for the moment and asked Kaylee, "My mule fixed?"

"Sure is, Cap'n," Kaylee cheerfully replied.

Mal motioned towards the front of the mule and asked, "What the hell's this?"

Simon answered meekly, "Dusty, the Moon Ranger?"

A smile slowly spread across Mal's face as he said, "I see." Simon did not appear the least bit comforted by Mal's apparent change in demeanor. Mal shouted behind them, "Zoe, ship is yours. And let Jayne know the good doctor just volunteered to cover his end of today's job." Mal started the hovermule's engine and told the girls, "Now run along you two. Simon and 'Daddy' have a lot of work to do."

* * *

After ten minutes worth of silent riding Simon attempted to start a conversation. "So uh, what is this job?" Simon asked.

"It's a meet" Mal said shortly.

"Ah, ok." Simon waited moment, hoping Mal would elaborate. After half a minute's wait, Simon spoke up again, "So, what should I be doing at this meet?"

"Whatever I gorram tell you." Mal replied harshly. He looked disdainfully over Simon's fancy clothing and added, "Let's start with you not gettin' kidnapped…again."

"Sir, yes sir!" Simon responded sarcastically. "Permission to ask-"

Mal stopped the mule so suddenly it almost caused Simon's head to collide with the dashboard.

Simon yelled, "Are you crazy?"

Mal was about to give Simon a piece of his mind when he realized he wasn't sure why is he was so gorram angry at the young doctor. That is, aside from Simon's budding relationship with his mechanic. Mal hated shipboard romances, they complicated things. A smug grin grew into Mal's expression as he figured out what he was going to say.

"I must be, Doc, thought you were man enough to handle an honest job."

"Honest?" Simon responded in disbelief.

"Well, uh… that's beside the point. I suppose a fancy prissified high falutin' gentleman like-"

"Can you at least be honest about what we're doing?"

"Sure" Mal said with a grin as he started the hovermule moving again. "Don't know yet. I 'spect our contact'll tell us what manner 'o job it is when we get there."

Simon's jaw dropped and hung open in disbelief.

"Best shut that 'less you wanna catch flies." _Doc weren't expecting that_ Mal thought to himself feeling smug, perhaps a little ashamed, but mostly smug.

* * *

Jayne Cobb was bored out of his mind. He had just finished his primary form of entertainment and needed to leave his bunk and find something else to do, at least for an hour. He left his bunk and walked down the stairs, between the other crew bunks and the galley, and into the cargo bay. Upon entering he noted three points of potential interest: The hovermule was gone, River and Zoe were talking about something, and Kaylee was fiddling with a bed sheet. Jayne decided he was most interested in the story behind the bed sheet.

"What them bedsheets for lil' Kaylee?" Jayne said with a lecherous grin.

Kaylee rolled her eyes and said "It was for a movie."

"You made a movie?" Jayne's excitement was quite obvious, but then again, so are most things about Jayne.

River giggled and said, "Not for you."

Kaylee sighed, "And we didn't even finish."

Jayne chuckled, "I guess the doc ain't up the challenge." It became difficult for him to speak as he started to laugh even harder, saying, "You'da thunk Mr. 'top three percent' would've had a pill or somethin' for that."

Kaylee responded defensively, "It's not like that!" and then continued with a sigh, "Cap'n interrupted us."

Jayne had to grab the railing to support himself as he was laughing so hard.

Zoe rolled her eyes and said, "Jayne, do you really think they would do that in the cargo bay?"

"Why not? They did it in the engine room," River said with a hint of annoyance, momentarily shocking them all into silence.

Kaylee's face had turned a shade of red that they were more accustomed to seeing on Simon and she avoided making eye contact with River.

River spoke again, "I'm worried about my brother."

"So uh, where is the doc anyhow?" Jayne asked.

Zoe informed him, "Mal volunteered the doctor into coverin' your part of the job."

"What the hell was he thinking?"

Zoe answered with a weary sigh, "Don't believe he was."

Kaylee mused out loud, "I think it's sweet, the cap'n' being all protective like." She smiled and said, "Sides, Simon should oughta have to work hard to get me anyways."

"Still worried," River said again.

Soothingly, Zoe said, "Now now, I'm sure the captain won't do anything reckless."

River gave Zoe a look usually reserved for informing Simon of how much he is a 'boob.'

"Right, I guess I shouldn't try and lie to a psychic."

River leaned over, placed her chin on the railing, and sighed, "Not worried about Mal."

* * *

It was becoming dark on Beylix as Mal and Simon walked into the bar. It held more than a few rough looking customers prompting Mal to lean backwards and whisper to Simon, "Stay close," then continuing almost as an afterthought ,"but not close enough to make 'em think we're sly."

Simon responded quietly but angrily, "I can take care of myself."

Mal let out a hearty chuckle before walking up to the bar and ordering two beers. He then led them to a table where he could lean against the wall while keeping an eye on the door.

Simon sat down and took a sip of his drink, his face contorting as the foul beverage assaulted his refined pallet, "This is really bad."

Mal took a drink, his face betraying nothing, and responded, "Good. Should keep us sober enough to do business."

"So… finding adventure in a tavern. Doesn't anyone else find that a bit cliché?"

"Suppose so. But how many places you know of where it's socially acceptable to engage complete strangers in all manner of activities," Mal smirked, took another drink and continued in a stuffy core accent, "Such as stimulating conversation."

Simon took a large gulp before speaking. Mal fought the urge to laugh as the good doctor struggled to hold down his beverage. "So, Captain… why exactly did you want me here?"

"You think I enjoy Jayne's company?"

"You don't seem to enjoy mine."

Mal thought about that as he took another drink. _Why did he bring Simon?_ He didn't think much about his decision at the time. He just knew he wanted to teach the boy a lesson. River's voice sounded inside his mind, _Didn't ask daddy's permission. Not Smart._ Mal began speaking again, "Well Son, things have been rough since Miranda, and I'm sure you noticed, the crew's a mite smaller than it once was." Mal stared forlornly into his drink and continued, "You're a damn good doctor, but time may come we need more than that."

"I… I see." Simon took another large gulp, probably to cover his reaction.

Mal leaned back and continued with a smile, "But with the crew stayin' healthy like and you're little sister's been kind enough to stay within an acceptable level of crazy," Mal's smile dropped without warning as he leaned closer and continued with a stern expression, "I need something else for you to do. Something besides my mechanic."

Before the stunned doctor could form a retort two strangers sat down at their table. Simon tried to cover his nervous reaction with another sip of his drink, but found himself looking down at an empty glass. The other three looked at him with curious expressions. "Uh, I'll be right back," He said as he stood up and headed towards the bar.

The two newcomers' features were mostly obscured by their hats and dusters. One of them faced Mal and asked, "Captain Hartbatkin?"

Mal leaned back and nonchalantly responded, "Depends on if I'm gettin' a job or bein' arrested."

The other man asked, "Captain Reynolds?"

Mal sat up and leaned forward, "Just what the hell do you want and how much do you know?"

"Relax," the first man said, "you are not under arrest. We have a job for which we believe that your crew is uniquely qualified."

Simon returned to the table with four drinks. Mal was glad the boy could think on his feet, but didn't believe for a moment that he was fooling anyone. Mal relaxed a little thinking; _if these two know about me and mine then maybe I won't have to worry about Simon's acting. Things might actually go smooth._

As if in response to Mal's train of thought, the second stranger said four words that changed everything:

"Thank you, Dr. Tam."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Simon was halfway through saying, "You're welcome" before he fully comprehended the strangers words: _Thank you Dr. Tam. They recognize me, River isn't safe! _Simon panicked, bolting from the table and accidently running into the largest and meanest looking man in the bar, causing the Jayne sized ogre to spill his beverage all over Simon and himself.

Simon hastily tried to defuse the situation, stumbling over his words as usual, "I-I-I'm very sorry. P-please let-"

Simon's speech was interrupted as the larger man's fist caused the entire room to spin.

Simon caught himself against the wall and attempted to reorient himself. He was vaguely aware of Mal voicing his oft repeated, "Why can't things go smooth?" and sucker punching the somewhat less than jolly giant, saving Simon's face from further abuse.

The strangers left their seats and headed for the exit. They paused briefly near Mal to inform him, "We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves. We will meet you on your ship to discuss the job in detail."

Simon struggled to steady himself while making a mental note to visit the infirmary in case he had a concussion. As he regained focus he could here Mal saying, "We gotta get the hell outta here!" Simon was about to voice a sarcastic response when his eyes focused on what, or more accurately the whats, that were in their way. Simon abandoned sarcasm in favor of a stream of profanity that would have made Kaylee proud.

* * *

Inara had just docked her shuttle and was not surprised to find Kaylee waiting at her door.

The bubbly mechanic eagerly greeted her, "Hey, 'Nara."

"Hey, Kaylee, has Mal found a job yet?" Inara asked with a hint of worry.

"He 'n Simon are workin' on that right now. They're s'posed to be meetin' someone in town. Think the place is called the muddy rudder?"

"He took Simon?" Inara said, the relief evident in her voice, "That's good. Maybe Simon can keep Mal out of trouble."

* * *

Simon fell to the floor on his hands and knees as a barstool connected with his back and knocked the wind out of him. Mal retaliated on Simon's behalf by connecting another piece of furniture with the aggressor's face.

Mal shouted as he helped the young doctor to his feet, "I understand this may well be your first bar fight." Mal paused as he was fending off another brawler with the barstool. "But the object of this sport-" Mal feinted high with the stool and kicked low, sending a brawler to the floor with a wounded shin and continued, "Is for THEM to get hurt!" Mal tossed the stool in the air. A confused brawler caught the stool in front of him with a curious expression as Mal punched him square in the face and finished his senteance, "NOT US!"

Simon was swinging wildly, leaving holes in his defense that his opponent was mercilessly exploiting. Simon's luck improved when his opponent tripped over a bottle that, as luck would have it, sent the opponents face on a collision course with Simon's fist. Simon yelled, "Dammit Mal, I'm a doctor not a brawler!"

* * *

Kaylee and Inara were taking a stroll along the cargo bay catwalk as Kaylee recounted her 'date' with Simon. She was just getting to the part where Mal interrupted them when River ran down the stairs yelling, "Kaylee prep the mule!"

"Capt'n's got the mule, remember?" Kaylee said.

"Prep the old one then, the one with wheels."

Kaylee paused and contemplated her behavior. A bit of worry crept into her voice as she asked "What would ya be needin' the mule for?"

River looked to Inara and said, "Going to need iodine, gauss, bandages and maybe splints."

Kaylee rushed to prep the old four wheel mule while Inara hurried to the infirmary, cursing Mal's name in a decidedly uncompanion-like manner.

* * *

Mal fell backwards into the wall with a grunt. Two men lifted him up and held him against the wall. Mal did not have much fight left in him. He was sporting an impressive shiner, a split lip, and more than a few large bruises to be sure. Through the pain and exhaustion Mal was dimly aware of the fact that Simon's predicament was probably much worse than his own. One of the men that was holding Mal against the wall told him, "Stay still, it'll all be over soon."

Mal raged in fury and disbelief, "This just an honest brawl among men!" Mal spit out some blood and continued, "Ain't no one needs t' get kilt."

"He's not gonna kill him, you moron!"

The other brawler added hastily, "Well, not on purpose."

Confused, Mal turned his head and saw the patrons and brawlers (though mentioning both was mostly redundant) making a circular clearing. On one side of the open area stood the large man Simon had bumped into, who apparently answered to the name, 'Bronco.' On the other side there was Simon, mostly standing. His left eye had swollen shut, his lip was split, and blood ran down his face from a cut above his left eyebrow and he had several cuts and contusions covering most of his exposed body. His fancy shirt had been reduced to hanging rags, many of which had become red, as the flimsy material gave way under endless assaults and countless grabs.

Mal elegantly described their conundrum in one syllable, "Huh."

* * *

Zoe could smell the grease and feel the tension as she entered the cargo bay. Kaylee was hard at work on the old mule while Jayne stood on the catwalk in apparent contemplation, as if trying to decide what weapons to take somewhere. Zoe knew regardless of the situation that she did not want Jayne to think he was in charge. She walked up behind him, almost as silent as River, and asked "What's goin' on?"

Jayne attempted to cover his flinch with a snort. "'Lil' moonbrain thinks cap'n and the doc got themselves in a tussle."

"Have there been any transmissions by the authorities? Any evidence they are or soon will be arrested?"

"Nothin'. Maybe crazy got it wrong this ti-."

"Not wrong." River interrupted as she entered the cargo bay from the infirmary and walked towards Kaylee and the older mule. She stopped before completing the distance and amended her statement, "Not sure."

Zoe began to feel very uneasy. She walked down the stairs towards River and asked, "Not sure about the fighting?"

River shook her head and repeated, "Not sure."

Kaylee threw one of her tools down in frustration and complained, "I can't get the gorram thing to work! We'll need to use a shuttle."

Zoe responded firmly, "Captain said we're not to use the shuttles near town. There's a city ordinance and it attracts too much attention." The look in Kaylee's eyes made Zoe's heart ache, but Zoe resolutely stood her ground. She knew this was best for the crew.

Jayne said "Leave em be, it's just some honest brawling. You're just worried your pretty lil' boy toy's face'll get all messed up."

* * *

Simon labored for breath and struggled to remain standing. The only eye he could keep open was locked on the blurry and intimidating figure before him. Simon said incredulously, "If this is what a meet is like, it's no wonder my infirmary has been so busy in the past."

Bronco looked at Simon, clearly confused and asked,"Uh, is you threat'nin me, little man?" Bronco took a step closer. "I dunno how you knocked me ova there, but now we's gonna finnish this now!"

"Knocked you over?...I…" Simon paused in confusion. He remembered Mal sucker punching the big man at the beginning of the fight. _Then he must think…_ _but should I really tell him it was the captain… _

Simon spotted the Mal and heard him say,"Get the hell outta there, doc, tell 'em it was me. I need my doctor patchin' up my crew, not the other way around!" Under less stressful and painful circumstances Simon would have wondered how Mal said all of that without opening his mouth.

Simon shouted to Mal, "I think you're right." The crowd got a little quieter as many of the patrons were wondering what the pale and mostly shirtless man was talking about.

Mal found his voice and spoke up, "Uh, thanks!" and continued after a pause. "What am I right about again?"

"What you just said."

A couple of seconds later someone in the crowd shouted "He ain't said a gorram thing! You're stallin'!"

Simon turned to look to stare at Mal in befuddlement, realizing belatedly that his swollen left eye would not alert him to any advances from Bronco's direction.

Bronco took full advantage of this opening and charged Simon's blindside and bringing his fist down like a hammer in a strike likely end the fight, and possibly Simon's life.

* * *

In Serenity's cargo bay, River screamed Simon's name and fell to the floor.

"Inara, prep the shuttle," Zoe commanded without hesitation and thought,_Captain's orders be damned, I am not gonna risk losing another member of my family._ As Inara ran to her shuttle Zoe turned her attention back to River, cradling her head and trying her best to sooth the frightened girl. A few moments later, River stopped screaming, sat up, and said,"Too late."Her expression was unreadable as she looked into Zoe's eyes and said, "There won't be a rescue."

Zoe stared at the child as if she could somehow read into her and make sense of all of this, "You sure about that honey?"

* * *

Adrenaline surged through Simon's body as time slowed and the bar became eerily quiet. Simon could see himself and Bronco as though he was looking at them both from Mal's perspective. He could see every one of Bronco's muscles contracting, from his quadriceps through his abdomen and into his forearms, as he committed his entire body to that one attack. Simon watched his own body deftly pivot approximately 210 degrees on his left foot to slide just out of the way as Bronco overshot him and tumbled hopelessly overbalanced to the floor. Simon briefly wondered if his dance-like movements were similar to that of a toreador, a Spanish bullfighter from earth-that-was. His musing was interrupted by a mental image of Mal smashing a barstool over the back of the big man's cranium intruded upon his consciousness.

Time returned to its normal pace, the entire world became much louder, and Simon found himself standing on shaky legs while looking out of one eye at the remains of a broken barstool griped firmly in his hands. Several patrons slapped Simon on the back, saying things that his mind was too disoriented to process. His mind was painfully brought back into focus when Mal grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him in an attempt to grab his attention.

"Ya know, you can put down that barstool. He ain't getting back up," Mal said.

"Ow! What?" Simon asked as another patron gave him a congratulatory slap on the back. He looked down at his hands, embarrassed, and dropped what was left of the bar stool.

"You okay, Doc? Look like you just seen a ghost?" Mal asked.

"I… I don't know." Simon winced and attempted to stand up straight. "Do you and Jayne really do this kind of thing for fun?"

"You're supposed to get drunk first," Mal said with a smirk, "Hurts less that way."

As if in response to Mal's comment, one of the patrons offered Simon a drink, shouting "Come over here, doc, and get yer medicine!"

Simon limped towards the bar noting with curiosity and amusement that the bartender brought a new stool out, just for him. Simon began, "You say it hurts less-"

Mal interrupted him, "Go ahead, doc. When they find out what happened they're gonna think we're damned fools anyway. Way I see it; we owe it to ourselves to drink 'till we are stupid as they're bound to perceive us."

"This may be mild traumatic brain injury talking, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

* * *

"Yes" River declared back in _Serenity's_ cargo bay as a smile came to her face. "They won't need a rescue, not unless it's from us."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

40 Minutes later, Zoe and Kaylee parked the old four wheel mule outside of the 'Muddy Rudder.' Kaylee's worry quickly began to melt into confusion as she approached the establishment and heard curious chanting and cheering.

"Drink! Drink! Drink!"

"-Hold on, Doc need's more medicine!"

"Goh beh!"

"Dr. Pain! Dr. Pain!"

Kaylee paused and asked Zoe tentatively "Dr…. Pain?"

Zoe turned to face Kaylee and sighed "If they ain't in danger now, they're gonna be. Stay close, looks like this place can get a little rough, and I don't think many womenfolk come by here very often."

Before they could enter Mal staggered out of the bar. His black eye, split lip and slurred speech were not lost on the two as he hiccupped and greeted them, "Zoe! I swear darlin' I was gonna call-"

"Where's Simon?" Zoe interrupted him.

Mal responded by clutching his sides and convulsing with laughter.

"Don't see this as a laughing matter, Sir."

Mal regained control of himself, stood up a little straighter, and pointed inside. "You will," he said as he took a deep breath and let it out a contented sigh, "You will."

The three of them walked through the doorway, progressing three steps into the establishment before Kaylee and Zoe were frozen in confusion. Mal resumed his laughing as their minds raced to make sense of the bizarre scene in front of them. Kaylee was too stunned for words. Zoe could only manage a quiet "Son of a bitch" in disbelief.

A large capture of Simon hung on the wall amongst many smaller captures of much tougher looking men. Simon's picture did not need the size advantage it was afforded to stand amongst the others. His pale skin and nearly nonexistent shirt showed his wounds to be far more numerous and obvious than those of his contemporaries. His expression set him apart as well. While most of the men in the captures appeared enraged or triumphant, Simon looked like he would collapse any minute or die of confusion. Well, confusion and blunt force trauma. Below Simon's capture hung an oversized belt that featured a massive buckle engraved with the words 'Dr. Pain.'

When Zoe spoke again her voice was barely above a whisper. "This must be what going mad feels like."

Kaylee rushed forward as she spotted Simon stumbling in their direction, closing the distance in just enough time to prevent him from falling over. She called his name as she wrapped her arms around him and held him upright. The rest of his shirt was missing and several strips of white cloth were tied around him in makeshift bandages.

Simon smiled and slurred, "Hey there, Gorgeous" as he wrapped one arm around Kaylee's shoulders and reached down to grab her rump with the other.

Kaylee asked him, "Are you okay?" without reacting to his uninvited, though perhaps not unwelcome, touch.

Simon hiccupped and replied, "Shiney! I jus' took some medicine" as he hiccupped again. He seemed to feel the need to clarify and added, "It doesn't hurt so bad anymore."

Kaylee gently ran her hand down the swollen left side of Simon's face. "Honey, what happened to you? You look terrible!"

Simon hiccupped as he squeezed her rump once more in inebriated affection before replying, "You should see th'other guy!"

Kaylee looked around the room but did not see anyone who looked half as beaten as Simon, or even Mal. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted what she assumed to be three jien huo ogling over Simon. She pushed Simon back but held him firmly at arm's length. Mal and Zoe caught up with them as she was staring into Simon's open and unfocused eye and asking him, "Where's your shirt?"

"s'broken." Simon giggled.

Kaylee stared at Simon accusingly. "Whadda ya mean it's broken?"

"I made bandages." Simon responded with a Kaylee-esque smile.

Zoe commented, "Is it just me, or is Simon starting to sound like his little sister?"

Kaylee laughed, Simon remained oblivious and Mal appeared to be shocked into a measure of sobriety by Zoe's remark.

Zoe advised gravely "In all seriousness, Sir, I think we should go back to the ship. This may be a rim world, but I still don't think it's wise for our fugitive to draw attention to himself."

Simon slurred, "Give me some sugar Kaylee, Doctor's orders." as he stumbled forward to embrace her. Cheers erupted from the inebriated crowd.

"All right Dr. Tam!"

"-Doc must be dow ma tze!"

"-Dr. Pain! Dr. Pain!"

Mal said sarcastically, "Yeah, we best leave 'fore our cover gets blown."

* * *

Simon emptied the contents of his stomach over the back of the speeding hover mule. His head was spinning and his entire body felt like a massive contusion. He shivered as the wind rushed over his shirtless form and attempted to warm himself by focusing on Kaylee's comforting presence as she held his arm and rubbed his back while he emptied more 'medicine' over the side.

"Oh God! Why did I do this?"

"There, there" Kaylee soothed as she rubbed his back. "We've all been there 'afore."

Simon expelled more 'medicine', "I'm never going to drink again."

Kaylee giggled and continued soothingly, "We've all said that 'afore too."

"That boy yackin' again?" Mal asked with more than a hint of annoyance.

Zoe glanced in the rearview mirror before turning her attention back to driving. "Don't think they cover gettin' beat into a pulp and holdin' your liquor in the Osiris Med Schools."

Mal retorted "Yeah? Well then they should at least cover not being a gorram idiot and pissing off the largest brute in a local bar."

"Sir, what exactly happened in there?"

"We sat down, we met our contacts – one of which knew Simon's name – and Simon panicked and ran into Jayne's long lost evil…er… twin brother."

"That explains the condition we found you in. Can you explain why the hell his picture is on that wall?"

"I surely wish I could." After a moment Mal continued. "He knocked out the toughest brawler there and became the tavern champion."

After a few moments of silence, Zoe asked, "Would you care to elaborate, Sir?"

"It was strange, Zoe. He spent the entire fight getting his ass kicked and I thought big guy was about to kill 'im. Then at the last moment, Simon spun out of the way like a gorram ballerina and smashed a barstool over the big guy's head."

"That big guy gonna be a problem, Sir?"

"Naw, when he woke up he bought us drinks."

"Must be some kind'a local sport. I guess that explains why the authorities were never called in. Does this mean we have to look for another job?"

"Our contacts said they would meet us at our ship. Said they'd prefer not to draw attention to 'emselves."

"And they're still coming to see us?"

Mal laughed and continued. "They seem to believe my crew is 'uniquely qualified' for something, they recognized Simon on sight, and I'd say there's more 'en a fair chance they know 'bout our lil' albatross."

"What do you think we should do, Sir?"

"We still need a job. We'll keep our guard up and be prepared to go full burn at the first sign of trouble."

* * *

Inara was interrupted from her worried musings by Jayne's impatient rambling.

"What the hell's taken 'em so long?"

River spoke to him as if he were a child "Don't worry. They'll be fine."

"I ain't worried. I just wanna see how badly Mal and your brother got their asses kicked."

Inara spoke up, "What makes you so certain they lost?"

"I seen Mal in a fight. As for the doc," Jayne laughed and then continued, "Only thing the doc doesn't fail miserably at is… uh… being a… doc…"

River sighed, "He takes so much looking after."

Inara stood up and started walking down the stairs as she noticed the hover mule approaching. Curiously, it stopped just outside the cargo bay doors. She saw Zoe at the wheel in the front seat with a bruised and irritated Mal beside her. Inara's heart caught int her throat when she saw Simon's condition as Kaylee held him over the back of the mule. Inara marched furiously towards Mal.

"What the did you do, Mal?" Inara asked him angrily. It took every ounce of her self control not to slap him.

"What did I do?" Mal stared at her incredulously and pointed to Simon who was still leaning over the back of the mule. "He started it!"

Simon wailed, "Oh God make it stop!" as Kaylee continued to rub his back and make soothing noises.

Inara balled her hands into tight fist as she attempted to control her anger, "Really, Mal? You're blaming Simon? Just what did he start? And where is his shirt?"

"I'm too tried for this ri shao gou shi bing! I'm captain of this ship and I'm delegatin' responsibilities! Zoe, fill anyone in needs to know. Jayne, you've been assigned guard duty for the next four hours till Zoe relieves you. We're expecting visitors at some point and can't be sure they'll be friendlylike. Kaylee, if my boat breaks on account of you're too busy nursin' my doctor to keep us flyin' I'm gonna be very irate!" Mal ordered before storming off towards his bunk in angry silence.

Not surprisingly, Jayne was the first one to break the silence. "Hey, how come I don't get a nurse when I lose a bar fight?"

Zoe said, "Boy didn't lose."

River giggled.

"Boy looks like that," Jayne paused as he pointed at Simon's pitiful form," And HE'S the winner?" Jayne asked, "Is the other feller dead?"

Simon had finally started limping into the cargo bay with Kaylee and River's assistance. Each step appeared to be agonizing. Kaylee turned to Zoe and said, "I'll be right back to take care of the mule. I promise."

Zoe said, "Don't worry dear, I'll get it. You just make sure his cuts don't get infected."

River said, "Nurse Kaylee, this man needs a sponge bath, his wounds cleaned, 1000 milligrams of Acetaminophen, fluids, and bed rest." River stopped to stare accusingly at Kaylee. "And he has to be sleeping."

Simon spoke up, "Don't I get a say in any-"

"NO!" Kaylee, River, and Zoe interrupt him in unison.

Inara watched it all play out in silent confusion. _Was I wrong about Mal? _The man was infuriatingly unpredictable. She turned to face Zoe and asked, "Zoe, could you please tell me what happened?"

Zoe sighed and began recounting the tale. "I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen the evidence. It all started when…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Mal woke up the next day looking like twice baked death. As he began his morning routine, he thought about how he was going to take out his frustrations out on Simon. After all, he was the one that got them in this gorram mess in the first place. As he finished his shave he thought, _to be fair, it was my fault we got drunk. 'Course, that don't mean I can't go wake 'em up and enjoy his misery._ Mal smiled as he finished getting dressed and climbed out of his cabin.

Mal cheerfully greeted Zoe as he passed her in the galley on his way to the stairwell that lead to the infirmary and the passenger dorms. Zoe returned the greeting with a neutral response. Her curiosity over his unusually high spirits was obvious, but she asked no questions.

Mal stood outside the door to Simon's room with a smile as he remembered his first truly horrific hangover. _Matter of fact, I was also in a fight the night before. Next mornin' my entire world was achy and loud._ Mal took a deep breath and threw open the door.

"GOOD MORNING DOCTOR-" Mal cut himself off, momentarily shocked into silence. "And uh… Kaylee…"

The small bed could not contain the startled couple and Mal saw more of Simon than he was comfortable with as the doctor tumbled over the side.

"Are you psychotic?" Simon yelled as he labored painfully to bring himself into a sitting position.

Kaylee said, "Be gentle, Capt'n I ain't done fixin' him yet!"

"Things keep changin' round here an' I might fix him!" Mall continued yelling.

Simon's modesty was temporarily forgotten as he clutched his ears in his hands and pleaded, "Could everybody please stop yelling?"

"There a reason why you was here, Captain?" Kaylee enunciated the word 'captain' with precision and severely undisguised dislike.

"Yeah!" Mal continued lamely, "Big day today, just wanted to make sure everyone was up and ready."

"It's time for your checkup, big brother!" River announced as she cheerfully walked into the room, causing Mal and Kaylee to nearly jump out of their skin. Simon grabbed the nearest item available to cover himself, which happened to be Kaylee's flower tank top.

_Well this is all manner of awkward_ Mal thought to himself.

"Eye's still swollen shut, pulse is elevated" River crossed her arms in a little pout. "I thought I ordered you to rest."

"Right uh…" Mal began as he searched for a graceful way to excuse himself. "I'm going to go… captain."

River wrote a few notes in one of Simon's Journals, "I expect you to take 1000 mg of Acetaminophen, drink plenty of fluids" River paused to stare at Kaylee again accusingly, "and refrain from strenuous activity."

* * *

Zoe, Jayne, and Inara were having breakfast in the galley when Mal returned. Zoe noted with some amusement that the captain appeared a mite more flushed and less mischievous than he had moments ago. She had a feeling that this meal would become interesting enough without her assistance, so she patiently kept her silence. Zoe had a feeling she wouldn't have to wait very long.

Mal quickly started a conversation before anyone could say a word to him. "Mornin' all. So Inara, you still think it's all my fault?" Mal asked on his way to the coffee pot.

"Yes," Inara said simply after taking a sip of her tea. Zoe wondered how long Inara's collected composure would survive in a conversation with Mal.

Mal spilled hot coffee on his hand and muttered a curse. Apparently he was not expecting that answer. Zoe allowed herself a small smile as she thought of Wash and how much they loved seeing the captain flustered.

Mal cleaned up the spilled beverage looked at Inara in confusion "Uh, why?"

"You had no business taking that boy there and you know it!" Inara appeared to be losing her temper already.

Zoe shook a little with silent laughter. _That was lot quicker than I anticipated._

Jayne banged his fist on the table as he entered the conversation with the finesse of a sledgehammer,"And why'd ya bench me in favor of that pasty runt? You know I's always ready for a tussle!"

Mal replied, "Boy's a man. Needs to learn to stand on his own two feet. Can't shelter 'im from the whole 'verse forever." Mal turned to Jayne and continued, "And I wasn't plannin' on a fight!"

Jayne snorted, "When's the last time somethin' went in… ac… accord … the way you was plannin'?"

Mal looked into Zoe's eyes as if he were pleading with her and said, "Why can't things ever go smooth?"

Zoe arched an eyebrow and said, "You really want me to answer that, Sir?"

Zoe was spared his response when River's voice sounded throughout the ship via the com, "I need everyone inside the cargo bay in twenty minutes to meet our contacts. It may take a while so bring something to sit on."

Mal stated in incredulity, "I'm assume she's tryin' to make up for the blissful lack of crazy as of late. Don't know why else she would think she's my pilot, doctor and captain!" Zoe, Jayne, and Inara laughed at the flustered captain as they made their way to the cargo bay.

"Come on, Sir," Zoe smiled as she took Mal's arm and lead them on their way. "We wouldn't want to keep the new captain waiting."

"Why am I even on this gorram boat?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kaylee plopped down into her favorite lawn chair as she watched the rest of the crew gather in the cargo bay. Jayne and Mal were dragging crates and containers over to serve as makeshift benches arranging them in an arc with the speakers assumedly standing in the center. Simon let out a pained grunt as he sat down beside her. _Poor guy's gonna be pretty tender for a few days_ she thought. Then a mischievous grin came to her face as she thought of Simon being completely at her mercy.

"What are you thinking about?" Simon asked, smiling at her. That boyish grin of his made her giddy all over. It just made her want to jump 'im and do things that were decidedly less innocent. She was happy to see that his swollen eye was finally starting to open. Kaylee wasn't sure how long she stayed lost in his eyes before remembering he had asked her a question.

"Oh, nothin' really." She let out a short mischievous laugh. "Just thinkin' that you better be real nice to me, seein' as how I have you at my mercy!"

"You know, doctors take an oath. They're not supposed to harm their patients," chided Simon.

"Don'cha remember? I'm a nurse!" She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "A very. Naughty. Nurse."

Kaylee leaned back and giggled at his obvious arousal and embarrassment.

Mal pulled the last crate into position and glanced at Simon, remarking, "They must have knocked you around harder than I thought. Your face is still redder than a tomato!"

Jayne snorted and added, "I think he's still swelling."

Kaylee felt a little guilty for finding Simon's embarrassment so adorable but she was unable to contain her laughter. Of course, she wasn't feeling guilty enough not to add to his misery. "You should relax Simon, if ya took things easier you wouldn't be so stiff!"

Before Jayne could sit next to Simon and ridicule him further, River pushed him out of the way and stuck out her tongue before stealing the seat next to her brother. She said, "Simon needs me here," as she smiled and hugged her brother, "for when he worries."

Mal asked River, "So uh, miss pilot-doctor-captain River Tam, why wasn't I notified when our contacts sent us a wave."

River looked at Mal as if he had spoken complete nonsense and responded, "They didn't send a wave."

"Then how-"

"They're here!" River interrupted as a fully enclosed black hover sedan came to a stop just outside of Serenity's main hold.

* * *

The rear door of the black hover car opened and two figures stepped out. They were wearing dark suits and trench coats with hats and glasses that obscured most of their features. Simon had a very bad feeling about this, and not only because Kaylee was griping his arm uncomfortably tight. Although he could not make out any distinguishing features, Simon was somehow certain they were the same two he saw in the bar last night.

One of the strangers spoke "We appreciate you agreeing to meet us on such short notice."

Mal countered angrily, "What notice? You didn't send a wave or anything."

The other stranger said, "And yet here we are, clearly expected, and you are not the least bit unprepared."

The first stranger continued as if no one had spoken,"As I mentioned earlier, we have a job for which we believe your crew is uniquely qualified. First we'll discuss payment. We can pay you 6,000 platinum up front and can give you access to an unlimited credit line to cover you expenses."

"That's a hefty chunk of change there." Mal said "Course we can't spend it if we get ourselves Imprisoned or killed. And what makes you so sure we won't just take the platinum and disappear?"

"You're reputation speaks otherwise, also there is the matter of payment upon job completion." The stranger paused for dramtic effect, and continued, "A negotiable monetary sum, as well as your continued freedom."

Mal replied angrily "Now, I know you did not just step on my boat and threaten my crew!"

The second stranger confirmed, "That is correct Captain Reynolds."

"Yeah," Mal replied, suddenly at a loss for words, "You're gorram right it is."

The second stranger clarified, "It was a warning. The alliance is close to completing a project that will make it possible to track anyone at anytime by their D.N.A."

Mal asked uncertainly, "There D.N.A.?"

Jayne supplied, "That's Drinking, Narcotics and Aphrodisiacs right?"

Simon stared at Jayne unbelieving and asked, "How can you know words that big and still get it completely wrong?"

Jayne stood up and shouted, "You wanna go little man? I'll beat ya till you're as moonbrained as you crazy sister!"

"Sit down Jayne!" Mal ordered before turning to address to the first speaker, "When you say tracked by their D.N.A., do you mean forensically? As in they can read blood, spit or-" Mal pointedly avoided looking in Simon and Kaylee's direction, "-or other bodily fluids to tell where we've been?"

"I'm afraid it is much more complicated than that. If successful, they will be able to recognize a person by analyzing the way high frequency-"

"Please" Mal interrupted. "Give it to me in captain dummy talk."

River pouted "Thought I was captain today. I have no problems understanding." Mal glared at River and she stuck her tongue.

"With the proper equipment, an Alliance cruiser could scan an entire planet for a weak from orbit to identify every person on it as well as determining their general location. If they narrow the search to look for a specific D.N.A. sequence… the process works considerably faster."

Panic enveloped Simon as he felt a sharp pain in his chest and briefly wondered if he was going into cardiac arrest. _There will be nowhere left to run. How can I keep River safe? _Simon was brought back into the real world by a sharp pain in his arm. After a moment he realized Kaylee was squeezing it while watching him with open concern and whispering his name. He gave her a weak smile and then realized his other arm was stretched out protectively in front of River.

River giggled, placed her palm along the side of Simon's face, and assured him soothingly, "Don't worry Simon, you'll protect me. You always protected me."

Simon reoriented himself and tried to focus his attention on what Mal and the strangers were talking about.

"Okay let me get this straight," Mal said, "The project is not quite finished. The public is completely unaware as they'd rightly be unapprovin' and you want us to steal or as a last resort destroy the prototype?"

The stranger answered, "That is correct captain. If it can be stolen, then we can make sure the evidence becomes public knowledge and that the project will never garner the support necessary to become implemented."

"And our crew is uniquely qualified…how?" Mal asked and then hastily amended, "Aside from our fugies makin' us a prime candidate for blackmail."

The stranger explained, "We need someone to infiltrate the private ceremony where it will be unveiled to a select group of government and business leaders with the intention of intimidating them into compliance. They are hiding this private meeting within an exclusive but public event, more specifically, the sapphire ball which is said to be the social event of the season. We could not obtain the information necessary to infiltrate this meeting, which is why our agent must also be a reader. A reader could pull the relevant information out of another's thoughts and bluff their way through."

Simon rose quickly and stood protectively in front of his sister. "No! It's too dangerous! I will not let you throw her at the alliance to further your own political ambitions! Simon shouted, momentarily silencing the entire group with his angry proclamation.

After a few moments, the second stranger broke the silence "I agree. River is very talented, but alliance conditioning has made her dangerous and unpredictable. There is also a chance someone could trigger her to fall asleep or go berserk. I was referring to another reader."

The stranger's words replaced Simon's righteous fury with confusion. His legs felt tired and unstable has he lost the raging adrenaline that was sustaining them. His head became very light and unfocused and he began to regret standing up so suddenly.

When the stranger finished his next sentence, the cargo bay was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

"I was referring to Dr. Tam."

What dropped instead was larger, louder, and decidedly more Simon shaped.

* * *

Jayne pointed to Simon and asked, "Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?"

Zoe looked to Mal "Sir, Am I being a delusional grief ridden widow, or did they really think Simon is a reader?"

Mal thought _No way in hell these two are on the level_ and said "You an' me both Zo, Simon can't be a spy, he's the easiest mark I ever met."

Jayne prodded the unconscious doctor with his boot. Kaylee slapped Jayne's leg and rolled Simon onto his back.

Inara said calmly, "I think there's been a mistake. "

Kaylee pouted as she cradled Simon's head, "If he was a reader he coulda' read me a lot sooner!"

Simon stirred, "Hmm, bao bei?"

"Shhh," Kaylee soothed, "Everything's fine, we're just havin' us a community delusion is all."

The second stranger spoke "The trait is not as pronounced as it is in River, but it is there, lying dormant. If it has surfaced at all, it likely only occurred when he was most comfortable or with those he was most familiar."

Mal contemplated his words and remarked, "Well, when you put it that way, I'm not sure we've ever seen the good doctor looking remotely comfortable. Still, this tale you're spinnin' is gettin' awfully tall." Mal turned to River and asked, "Lil' albatross, you mind lookin' into his brainpan? Make sure he's not of like to lyin' to us." Mal grinned in satisfaction when he saw the stranger tense in anticipation.

River giggled, "It's true but shhhh," River whispered conspiratorially "Simon doesn't know."

Kaylee replied thoughtfully, "I thought he was rather…gifted… for his first time."

Mal grabbed his head in his hands and said, "Oh God! I don't need to know that!"

Jayne interjected, "Maybe you wasn't his first time."

"Jayne! I hardly see how that's relevant." Inara said curtly.

"Not like that Jayne!" Kaylee laughed, absently played with Simon's hair, continued with a happy sigh, "I meant his first time with me. Somehow he just knew where to find all my buttons."

"Kaylee!" Simon admonished, clearly embarrassed.

Mal proclaimed incredulously, "This must be what going mad feels like."

River proffered, "Simon heard me in the academy. Hear me calling, but didn't understand. I had to send him a code, cause he's such a boob."

Mal knew he had to take charge of this situation before he lost what remained of his sanity. "Okay, so he's a reader... kinda sometimes… and only amongst those he knows well. Now I'm not exactly an expert in all things cloak n' daggery, but I'm pretty sure listenin' to his crazy sister and doing… somethin' else to my mechanic don't make him qualified to be an operative!"

Jayne added, "Not to mention he's soft as Inara and already been kidnapped twice!"

"I'm right here you know, and I'm fully conscious." Simon stated indignantly from the floor.

Zoe commented, "He ain't no Dusty."

"I'd say he's down right immaculate," Jayne replied.

The first stranger asked impatiently, "Captain, is your crew always this orderly?"

Mal responded with a smile, "Nah, today's a good day."

"Sir, If I may," Zoe said as she waited patiently and waited for Mal's assent to continue. Once given she continued, "River's confirmed what he's saying to be true, least aways far as he knows it, our doctor is passing in and out of consciousness, and it looks like we have an awful lot of planning and negotiating still to come. Can we move this conversation to the infirmary?"

* * *

Simon lay on the infirmary bed and winced as River began an IV drip. River said "Brought this on yourself, didn't obey the doctor's orders."

Jayne grunted in amusement, as he did most every time he saw the young doctor in any form of pain or discomfort. Jayne didn't hate Simon, but he did hate everything about him. Jayne hated his fancy core speechifyin' and his lily white skin and his fancy manner of dressin'. Simon wasn't good at anything manly like fightin' or drinkin' or shootin' and still Kaylee chose him. Though Jayne had to admit, Simon wasn't weak, he would do anything for his sister, even stuff like fightin' or shootin' that he wasn't good at and were dangerous. That kind of bravery earned Simon a lot of respect in Jayne's mind. After all, it wasn't the doc's fault he was born a sissy. So Jayne didn't hate Simon, he just hated everything about him.

"We have already obtained a false identity and an invitation for Dr. Tam." The stranger one said.

Zoe said, "I don't like the idea of him going in there alone, even if we are nearby."

The stranger sighed, "I wish he didn't have to, it makes his task much more dangerous. Alas, we were only able to acquire one invitation."

Inara suggested, "I can go with him as his personal escort. Many a guests will arrive with a registered companion and my being there would likely draw less attention than his going alone."

_Even Inara's throwin' herself at him _Janye thought with no small amount of disgust. Then he thought about how much this would irritate the captain, and that thought brought a smile to his face.

"Yes! That is an excellent idea!" Stranger one agreed. "My assistant will give you the details on the tools you'll have at your disposal."

Stranger two pulled a datastick out of his pocket and handed it to Kaylee. "Those are bluebrints of the building in question" He reached into another pocket producing another datastick "And these are blueprints of devices that may help you in this operation. Use the platinum or credit line to acquire any materials you need to build them."

Mal inquired with annoyance, "What about the part where he's needin' to be a reader? We can't just have Inara go whore 'im up to relax him every time we hope to get a read on someone."

"Unbelievable!" Inara said in exasperation. "I had thought we were beyond that Mal, and I thought you could at least respect your crew, even if you couldn't respect me."

"Captain, that was mean!" Kayless said. Her words seemed to cut into Mal the most.

Jayne let out a chuckle and found himself at the receiving end of many angry stares. "What? I think the Captain's mean to."

Stranger two spoke up again "If I may continue, I have a much more practical solution to that problem." He waited patiently until he had all their attention and then spoke directly to Simon. "I have an experimental drug that will bring out your dormant psychic ability, but it is not without side effects. The effects are temporary and there is a chance of developing a dependency, a chance which increases dramatically with each use. There is no data on withdrawal and detoxification as none of the test subjects were taken off the medication before being terminated. I sincerely hope you will only need to use this once."

"No!" River screamed and hugged Simon fiercely. Simon groaned has her embrace agitated last night's injuries. Jayne thought this was quite possibly the most painful looking hug he had ever witnessed. River's voice was muffled as she cried into Simon's chest, "Don't do it! Can't do it!" Simon held her and stroked her hair as she continued crying, "You're supposed to help me! Can't help me if they break you. I don't want you to be like me."

River sounded so scared and helpless. For the first time that day, Jayne took no pleasure from Simon's misery.

"There, there mei mei." Simon soothed. "I'll be alright. I know it will tough, but we can do this. It's the only way I can keep you safe, the only way we can keep everyone safe."

"But-"

"Shhhh. It'll be fine. Whatever happens, we will deal with it together." Simon kissed the top of her head. "I promise."

Stranger two cleared his throat and continued. "As I said, the drug's effect is temporary, side effects and duration varied greatly from subject to subject in the trials. It is my estimation that you will possess the ability to read a person's for a time of five and forty minutes. While the drug is still active, you will need to listen to the guests' surface thoughts until you find someone who knows when and where the secret gathering will take place, and you must accomplish this without attracting attention to yourself."

The stranger sighed and then continued. "In addition to all of that, you will have to deal with the drugs side effects which could be any, all or none of the following – hell, you might even add something new to the list—dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, vertigo, increased libido, decreased libido-"

Jayne interrupted, "I thought they was trackin' us by our aphrodisiacs."

Mal offered, "If that stuff happens just play it off like you're drunk."

The first stranger said "Aside from money and drugs, I'm afraid there's not much more we can do for you. The rest will be up to you. I wish you all the best of luck-"

"Just one more thing before you go" Mal interrupted "Doc said somethin' bout this furtherin' your political ambitions while he was busy gettin' ready to pass out. Care to elaborate?"

"No I don-"

"He's a member of parliament," River said, "Other one's his doctor. They think that part of the Alliance is wrong. A scandal would set them back and put this one's party in favor. They hope we succeed but they will deny knowing us if we get caught. Big risk big reward." River stared at Jayne with those moonbrained eyes and said, "Time for some thrilling heroics."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

For the next hour Serenity was a bustle of activity as they prepared to leave Beylix. Their next stop would be in Persephone to pick up parts and supplies for the operation. As soon as she was no longer needed in the engine room, Kaylee hurried to Simon's side, where she remained silently until the crew gathered for their evening meal. Seeing the two this close normally made Mal irrationally angry, but the fear in Kaylee's eyes broke Mal's heart. He decided to let them be without complaint as she anxiously held on to Simon's arm as if he would be lost to her forever the moment she let go. It wasn't until Kaylee broke the silence at the dinner table, that Mal realized the entire crew had likely said nary a word in the past six hours.

"Ya know Simon, it's okay to be scared," Kaylee said nervously, "I am."

"Good." Simon said absently before he seemed to realize how that sounded. His eyes suddenly went wide in panic as he began to stumble over his words in his usual manner around Kaylee. "I-I mean no! Not good for-I mean unless-It's okay to-"

Some_ things will never change_ Mal thought with a small smile.

Kaylee giggled, squeezed Simon's hand and soothed, "Shhhh. Take a deep breath… good… Now try again."

Simon regulated his breathing, placed an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and resumed speaking, "It's… it's good that it's okay to be scared because I…I'm terrified."

Kaylee buried her face into Simon's chest and began crying. She said between muffled sobs, "I finally got ya to notice me and-and… I'm just so afraid I'm gonna lose you."

Kaylee's tears tugged at Mal's heart strings and he tried his best to assure her, "Don't worry lil' Kaylee, Inara's goin' with him and we'll all be standin' by. 'Sides, you think I'm gonna throw away the only doctor in the 'verse that'll work on my boat for the peanuts I'm payin' him?"

Kaylee stifled her sobbing and said, "You're right, Cap'n, we'll just have to make sure everything works right and they'll both be just fine."

Jayne said, "Yeah don't worry lil' Kaylee, we'll bring him back. And you can still sex the livin' daylights out of him even if he does go all moonbrained."

Kaylee buried her face in Simon's chest and began crying much louder than before.

"What? I said somethin' wrong?" Jayne asked.

Mal was about ready to kill Jayne where he sat but Zoe intervened and said, "Jayne, you want to walk away from this table."

Jayne got up and apologized to Kaylee, "Kaylee…I'm… I'm sorry." Jayne got up and turned to leave "Yall let me know if there's anythin' I can do ta help."

* * *

Simon was a nervous wreck. In the past twenty-four hours he had been beaten up, roaring drunk and sleep deprived before being informed that he was a dormant Reader and the only hope for his sister's safety as well as freedom in the 'verse. To accomplish this, he would need to use experimental drugs that trigger an unstable ability he didn't have to slightest idea how to make use of. If this morning's horrific hangover weren't fresh in his memory he might have drowned his sorrows in Kaylee's special engine brew.

Kaylee…

She held onto his arm and followed him everywhere he went, clinging to him as if she though he would disappear as soon as she let go. Simon could sympathize, he felt much the same way months ago while he was treating River. For a few blissful days she would be a normal lucid little girl, but then her body would metabolize the drugs and they would cease to benefit her. Simon knew it was irrational, but he would hold his little sister as tight he could as the drug wore off, as if his embrace could hold in her sanity and shelter her from the madness. The way Kayless held onto him now made Simon fear he wasn't going to make it back. At least not with his mind intact.

Simon stopped his aimless walk, if you could call his limping gait walking, just outside of _Serenity's_ engine room. Kaylee hadn't smiled since they all learned about the dangerous drugs he would be using. Her smile had been his lifeline in the past. It kept him from giving in to despair when treatment after treatment failed to cure his sister. Simon desperately needed her smile now.

"Kaylee?"

Kaylee responded after a sniffle, "Yes?"

"What can I do to make you happy?"

"Simon, you already make me happy."

"I want to do the right thing, and I want you to be happy." When Kaylee didn't say anything Simon started to panic, fearing he somehow said the wrong thing again. _It wouldn't be the first time… _Simon took Kaylee's advice from earlier, took a few deep breaths, and continued.

"I…look…you… you know I don't belong-"

Kaylee turned on him with an angry glare, "Don't you even start with that I'm leavin' to protect you go se!"

"What! That's not why-"

"Oh that's not it is it? You gotten bored with how us simple folk? Things not good enough for ya here in the black?"

"Yes. No! Kaylee!-"

"I knew it! You was just wantin' to use this new identity to go live your fancy life in the core again!"

"No! Kaylee , I want to belong! I wish I could belong! Please-"

"You want to belong? Well ya could'a belong if you'd get that stick out of your-"

"I'm lost!" Simon screamed. The desperation in his voice silenced her. Kaylee seemed to panic as she realized she released hold of him at some point during the argument. She tackled him with an embrace that sent them both tumbling into the engine room. _I guess she's still afraid I'm going to disappear_,Simon thought with a groan, _and she just broke River's record in giving me the most painful hug in my life._ Simon found his voice and continued earnestly, "I'm lost Kaylee. I'm lost in the woods. And I-I need your light… you happy… keep me going and guide me back. I need… I-I…I could have… with you… I finally have a home… and-and…"

Simon sighed, "I just want to make you happy. I guess I'm uh… not so… with the talking…"

Kaylee smiled at him through her tears and Simon didn't think he had ever seen anything looking so beautiful. It was like having his own rainbow. She sniffled and asked, "Simon, do you really mean it?"

Simon wrapped her hands in his own and gave them a kiss. "Of course I do bao bei."

"Then I will!" Kaylee exclaimed happily as she nearly suffocated him with a long and passionate kiss.

Simon took a few labored breaths when their lips parted and said, "I'm glad!" with a smile.

"I will be your home!" Kaylee shouted in glee before smothering him with more kisses. _What does that mean?_ Simon thought but was afraid to ask. Everything was going so well now and he really didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"I can't wait to tell Inara!" Kaylee shouted. Simon began to feel very uneasy about all of this. Kaylee lifted herself up and off of Simon and ran to Inara's shuttle door and began pounding on it excitedly. Simon followed her, helpless and confused, as he witnessed his future changing dramatically before him.

Inara opened the door, appearing very worried, and asked, "Kaylee! What happened? Are you alright?"

Kaylee was positively glowing as she answered, "Shiney! Absolutely Shiney! Everything is so shiney! You won't believe what just happened!"

Inara relaxed visibly and asked "What happened Kaylee?"

"Simon just proposed to me! We're engaged!"

_What?_ Simon thought in silent panic. He grabbed the catwalk railing, suddenly needing the extra support. _What have I done? What have I gotten myself into? Can we really be ready for that kind of a commitment?_ Simon smiled nervously at the excited ladies in front of him because he didn't know what else to do. _Well,_ Simon sighed as he thought to himself, _at least I brought the sunshine back._

* * *

"He did what?" Mal shouted in disbelief.

It was morning, or at least what was mutually agreed upon as 'morning time' in deep space and the entire crew was gathered around the table for breakfast. Kaylee sat in Simon's lap as she excitedly told everybody the good news. Mal thought Simon looked happy too, but also looked nervous and scared out of his mind.

"He proposed to me! And it was right inside the engine room too!" Kaylee said with a contented sigh, "It was so romantic."

"I don't see a ring!" Mal retorted a little more harshly than he meant, which earned him the angry stares of every female member of the crew.

Kaylee said in an irritated voice "I'd be an old maid if I waited till he could afford a ring on what you're payin' him." _She had a point_ Mal admitted to himself. He paid his doctor well as all of them, which was well as he could, but most of Simon's cut had always gone into River's medicine.

Kaylee patted Simon's hand affectionately and continued her story, "But that's okay. I don't need a ring to tell me how much he loves me." Mad is Mal was at his doctor, he had to admit it warmed his heart to see Kaylee smiling again.

"There a bun in your oven lil Kaylee?" Mal asked. _That would explain why the doc looks so worried_ he thought.

"No, I don't think so anyway," Kaylee laughed and then turned around to face Simon, who fidgeted uneasily beneath her as she asked, "What do you think about makin' little ones. I always wanted to become a ma."

"Easy there sugar" Zoey warned playfully. "Wait till you have him safely trapped within your marriage. You don't want to scare him away."

"What brought this on anyway?" Mal asked. He was still having a hard time believing this was actually happening.

Kaylee turned to Simon and asked in an adorably infuriating manner "You want to tell him honey or should I?"

Simon began "Well I-"

Kaylee faced the others and cut him off, perhaps not even aware that he was speaking, as she began excitedly, "It was so romantic. He said he wanted to do what's right and wanted to make me happy, but he kept trippin' over his words like he usually does. I almost beat him cause I thought he was 'bout to be a martyr. Ya know, go an' leave me fer my own good' tryin' to be some kinda big damn hero."

Kaylee turned back to Simon and sighed. He smiled shyly and she wrapped him in a loving embrace before continuing. "And then he told the sweetest thing. Said he was lost in the woods without me and that he was finally ready to build our home together!" All of the women let out a chorus of 'awes' that made Mal's skin crawl.

Mal stared down the nervous looking doctor and asked "Is that a fact?"

"It's true" Simon confirmed. To Mal it almost sounded like the boy was having trouble believing it himself. "That's exactly how it happened" Simon continued as his voice waivered, "I, uh, I wasn't sure I had it in me."

His voice breaking brought about another infuriating chorus of 'awes' from his female crew members. Based off of the boy's voice tone and body language, Mal figured there was about a 50% chance the boy was actually in love and a 50% chance that he was or felt forced into it.

"It's both" River whispered behind Mal, startling him. "Better this way." She continued. "Otherwise Simon would have screwed it up. He is such a boob."

Mal turned to face River. "It's not polite to sneak up on folk and eavesdrop in their minds."

"You think too loud."

Mal watched most of his crew excitedly talking to the newly engaged. Mal noted with some amusement that Kaylee was doing most all of the talking, which was probably not unusual with these kind of occasions. Every now and then Simon would stutter out a few words before Kaylee obliviously and excitedly cut him off to answer for him. _Boy almost looks like a prisoner_ Mal mused.

"I take it you're okay with this lil' albatross?" Mal asked River.

"Better this way. Higher morale will improve crew performance.," River stated as she looked at Mal disapprovingly, "You're a captain, you should know these things."

"Well, if you're okay with it pilot-doctor-captain, so am I." Mal leaned back smugly in his chair. "You know I hate shipboard romances, but if there's one sure fire way to kill a romance, it's a marriage."

"How long do you think it will take before I'm an aunt?"

Mal fell over backwards. River giggled and skipped away to join the other women as they left galley discussing details of the engagement. Without even bothering to get up, Mal shouted at Simon "Doc, you mind explainin' to us menfolk just how all the hell this all came to be?"

"Two days ago I was still trying to make it through an entire date without making Kaylee angry. Now I'm an undercover operative and I've become engaged to a beautiful woman that I don't know how to talk to. Captain, I believe I may be insane."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Alright yall all know what ya need to do," Mal said as the main hold opened to a bright afternoon at Persephone's eavesdown docks. "This is the last stop 'fore we commence with the daring do and save the 'verse as we know it, so plan ahead."

As the crew walked out Mal grabbed Simon's arm and halted his movement. He called his second in command and ordered, "Zoe, you keep an eye on the good doctor. Make sure he don't get hisself killed, beaten or kidnapped this time."

Before Simon could take offense or protest Mal pulled out a small bag of platinum and held it up to the young doctor's face. He whispered firmly, "I respect that you've done your best, but Kaylee disserves better," Mal handed Simon the small bag of platinum. "Ain't much but it's all we can spare. Now go make this right and get my mei mei a ring." It really was all Mal could spare. The materials and equipment would take most all of the 6k and Mal was not goin' to let the crew use the credit line and risked being traced electronically.

Scared or surprised, Mal wasn't sure which, Simon stammered "I… thank you. Thank you Mal. I'll pay you back as soon as I-"

"You do what you feel is best, but I'm doin' this for Kaylee, not for you," Mal said with a smirk,"Don't forget, if ya-"

"If I hurt her you'll kill me." Simon completed.

"No, no. Can't do that unless I can find another doctor willin' to work for peanuts." Mal corrected. "But I can break something. Tell me doctor, just how fond are you of your kneecaps?"

Zoe laughed and admonished, "Stop it Mal, you're scarin' the poor boy."

"Poor?" Mal laughed briefly before cutting himself off. Mal could only imagine how hard adjusting to this life still was for Simon. "I'm sorry that was low. I'm a mean old man. Now you hurry up an' get my girl somethin' special so's I don't have to figure out what to break."

* * *

"Oh 'Nara, everything's so shiney!" Kaylee exclaimed as she excitedly browsed through various ship parts and supplies. "Me n' Simon's gonna get hitched and now Captain's finally letin' me buy the good parts my baby disserves. If this is a dream, I don't ever wanna wake up!"

Inara laughed and said, "Almost seems to be too good to be true doesn't it?"

"Oh I've known we's meant to be together since we, um, 'consummated' our relationship," Kaylee said with an impish grin, "but I wasn't expectin' Simon to figure it out so soon. 'Specially considerin' how long it took us to become sweeties. I'm proud of 'im!"

"I'm surprised as well," Inara said, "and so very happy for you both!" A wistful look came to her eyes as she continued, " I'd never believed men were capable of such love and devotion before Simon risked everything to rescue his little sister and hide her on our ship. He gave up everything he had without a second thought, just to keep his little sister safe. You deserve a man who loves that truly and completely. And he deserves a woman like you, a beautiful, limitless source of hope and happiness to rebuild his life around." Inara wiped her eyes before a tear could form and said, "I must admit, I'm somewhat envious."

"Awe 'Nara, that's so sweet! I know you'll be jus' as happy as I am one day," Kaylee said with a smile. She continued with another impish grin, "I'll bet the Captain's capable of some pretty good lovin.'"

"Mal?" Inara asked incredulously as turned her head to hide the rising blush.

"He'll come around eventually, I know it. Simon did, and sooner than I thought!" Kaylee exclaimed. "You just gotta have faith in people."

* * *

"Pleasure doin' business with ya badger," Mal said with a smile. "It's nice to know you can still have faith in some people."

"I didn't think you 'ere one to 'ave faith in anything, Captain Reynolds," Badger remarked.

"No, just not everything. However, I do have faith in your ability to take this electronic currency in an untraceable manner. I have faith that a fine businessman like yourself will recognize the value of continued access to alliance credits over that of sellin' me and mine out to the law. I also have faith in my lil' psychic over here." Mal motions towards River. "She'll know if you mean to betray us before you do."

"Also, I can kill you with my brain," River stated matter-of-factly.

Badger fidgeted uneasily and assured them, "Won't 'ave any problems on this end. You're goods'll be on your ship within the 'our, hidden amongst two 'undred pounds of rice."

* * *

Zoe and Simon walked for thrity minutes before they came upon the nearest jewelry broker. The walk should have only taken twenty minutes, but Zoe slowed they're pacing as the doctor began noticeably limping. She asked, not for the first time, "Doctor, are you sure you're alright?" and received, not for the first time, and unconvincing "Shiney."

"Well" Zoe announced "Here we are doctor." Zoe entered first, her eyes quickly scanning the room and taking note of all people, potential cover, and exits. She wasn't expecting any trouble, but she was a soldier and this constant stage of alertness had become a part of who she was. She leaned in close to Simon and whispered, "The broker will most like to take you for an easy mark and try to overcharge you, but he's afraid of me, so let him think I'm the lucky lady."

"What?"

"You want to get her somethin' nice don't ya? Just think of it as practice for our job," Zoe smirked and then added "Secret agent Tam."

"Right…" Simon started looking over a wide assortment of fancy engagement rings. Zoe's heart ached when he let out a defeated sigh before moving on to another part of the shop where simpler and less expensive rings were displayed.

Zoe gave Simon's shoulder a comforting squeeze and said, "Kaylee wouldn't have liked those gaudy things anyway."

"Mal's right, Kaylee disserves better-"

"I believe Kaylee's already made her choice."

"Can I help you with somethin'?" The jewelry broker asked as he moved to stand in front of Simon and Zoe from the other side of the counter.

"Uh, um yes," Simon stammered, "I was just looking for a gift for my lovely girlfriend."

Zoe smiled in approval of Simon's performance as she played the part of the adoring girlfriend.

"Well now, what did you have in mind," the broker asked with a smile.

"A ring. A very special ring," Simon began. Zoe thought about speaking up to support their charade but decided she would see how the good doctor did on his own.

Simon continued, "She likes sunflowers and strawberries and has a smile as like a sunrise." Simon's eyes were clouded with memories and he didn't notice when the broker stared skeptically at Zoe before cowering away from her steely gaze. Caught up in his recollections, Simon remained oblivious to the whole incident. _That was sweet but careless. Gonna have to talk to the boy about this._

Ten minutes later they left the store, Simon beaming as he held a ring that was undeniably Kaylee. It was a simple stainless steel ring with a sunflower surrounding an orange jewel in the center. "Well Zoe" Simon asked, "How'd I do?"

"You want the good news first or the bad news?"

Simon winced, "Good news I guess."

"I think Kaylee will be very pleased."

"And the bad?" Simon asked hesitantly.

"Pay attention to the man you are tryin' to deceive. That was clever of you, gettin' by without quite lyin' and it was sure sweet how you got lost recounting memories of your beloved. You get lost like that on a job and you can wind up very dead, dong mah?"

"I understand," Simon answered sheepishly as he walking back the way they came. It didn't take long for him to begin favoring one leg again.

Zoe sighed and grabbed Simon's arm, dragging it across her shoulders and taking some of the weight off of his injured leg. Zoe said sweetly, "You should have told us you were still injured Simon, we could have taken the mule."

"I didn't want the captain to think-" Simon interrupted himself and confessed, "I also didn't know it was this bad."

Zoe's heart fluttered as Simon settled against her. Zoe had no romantic interest in the young doctor, but her concern for him opened a hole in her emotional armor and it had been a very long time since she had been this close to a man, physically speaking. She held him steady, perhaps a little tighter than was necessary, and found herself loving and resenting Simon as she secretly took comfort their partial embrace.

Zoe stated firmly, but not unsympathetically, "You have a responsibility to report your patient's condition accurately to the Captain, even when that patient is yourself. He has a responsibility to the crew and needs to know what each member is capable of. Hidin' your injuries could place the rest of the crew in danger. I won't tolerate that and neither will the Captain."

"I... I'm sorry," Simon apologized.

"Don't apologize," Said Zoe, "It's a sign of weakness."

Zoe and Simon froze at the metallic clack of a gun being cocked a short distance behind them. Zoe silently cursed herself, _how did I allow myself to become so distracted?_

"Dr. Simon Tam you are hereby bound by law…"


	8. Chapter 8

(tentative chapter 8, story and events will not change but I may change some of the words I use to describe them and possible add dialogue.)

Chapter 8

"… treason, kidnapping, terrosim…"

Zoe whispered, "About how many you think are behind us?" to Simon as the officer, bounty hunter, or whoever he was listed Simon's 'crimes'.

"Four… or possibly five, I'm not sure about one," Simon answered. _How do I know that?_ he wondered.

"I'm impressed Doctor," Zoe complimented, "Too bad we didn't notice sooner."

"… impersonating an alliance officer, impersonating a doctor…"

"Hey, I am a doctor!" Simon shouted indignantly.

Zoe whispered, "When I call you _'sweetie' _I want you to fall as if your legs gave out and grab my gun. I'll roll in the other direction and use my backup."

"…now place your hands on your head and turn around slowly." The officer said.

"Man's injured," Zoe stated as they slowly turned around. "Not sure he'll remain standing long after I let go of 'im."

"Shall I charge you with obstructionn of justice?" the officer inquired pompously.

After turning around, Simon saw four alliance officers. The portly officer holding a warrant and listing his 'crimes' appeared to be the one in charge. His weapon remained in its holster. The other three however were young and fit with sonic rifles drawn and trained on them.

"Don't worry," Zoe said soothingly as her entire body tensed in anticipation of imminent violence, "Everything will be just fine, _sweetie_."

Simon dropped to the ground as commanded. His dexterous surgeon's hands nimbly plucked Zoe's 'mare's leg' from its holster on his way down.

Zoe spun around and drew a pistol concealed at the small of her back.

Time slowed, much as it had back in that bar on Beylix. This time, Simon was not suffering from a concussion and was fully aware of what was happening.

An invisible link formed between Simon and Zoe's mind. Simon's motor neurons borrowed Zoe's reflexes and muscle memory as he raised her arm cannon and fired with surgical precision.

The recoil of the 'mare's leg' dislocated Simon's shoulder as the bullet from the massive handgun tore into the portly officer's neck flesh, separating his head from, the rest of his body.

Zoe shot two of the alliance guards in their armored chest before they could react and sent them tumbling to the ground. She swung her pistol around to deal with the last threat half a second too slowly.

The remaining guard fired his sonic rifle at point blank range into Zoe's torso. She screamed in pain and she fell to the ground as the weapon assaulted her nervous system. The guard was about to discharge his rifle at Zoe's face - which would be lethal at this distance - when Simon intervened.

"Don-don't shoot," Simon said uneasily as he stood, his left hand awkwardly griping Zoe's massive handgun. His right arm hung limply at his side as he kept the weapon trained on the remaining alliance guard and warned, "If you value your life, y-you'll see to your injured and-and let us go."

Though the guard was not intimidated, he was distracted, and that moment of inattention was all Zoe needed. She laid him out in one well placed blow.

Zoe struggled to stand as her body recovered from the sonic blast and called out to Simon, "You alright?"

Simon dropped her gun, fell to his knees and vomited.

* * *

"Simon!" River screamed as she fell to her knees.

Mal kneeled in front of her and grabbed her shoulders asking, "What's wrong little one?"

River vomited onto the front of Mal's shirt. Mal would have a new-found respect for the young Doctor as soon as he got over his current resentment.

"Ew... er... it's gonna be okay-"

"I can't hear him. He's too quiet. Simon might be dead!"

Mal snatched the com from his belt and called, "Zoe?" After a few moments he called again "Zoe, what's your status?"

Zoe's voice sounded strained through the com, "Feds ambushed us sir, but we got away. We should leave soon."

"What about Simon? Is he alright?" Mal asked as he held the com between River and himself so the both could hear.

After an uncomfortable silence Zoe's voice answered, "I'm not sure, sir. I'll explain when we get back to the boat. It'd be best if someone could swing by and get us."

"Can't hear him. Can't find him. I'm lost!" River grabbed Mal by his shirt and shook him violently, yelling. "Where's Simon? Take me there now!"

Mal switched the com's channel and hollered into the device, "Whoever's in the Mule, I need you to grab Zoe and Simon five minutes ago and get them on my boat!"

* * *

"Kaylee!" River screamed in panic as she ran to meet her in _Serenity's_ cargo bay, "I can't find him! I can't find Simon!"

"Shhh, calm down mei mei," Kaylee soothed as she fought to control her own rising panic. "He'll be fine, he went with Zoe. Jayne should be on his way back with 'em right now."

Mal stormed through the cargo bay shortly behind River and said, "Kaylee, tell that sah gwa doctor of yours to see to Crazy soon as he gets back and then get my boat ready for immediate takeoff. I'm going to change my shirt."

"River honey, what's wrong?" Kaylee asked as she stroked River's hair.

"Can't hear him. I can't hear Simon."

"Then we'll just have to wait for Jayne to bring 'em back so's we can see him," Kaylee responded with cheerful confidence. She wasn't sure if it was for River's benefit or her own.

"They're on their way, but I still can't hear Simon."

"What?..."

* * *

Jayne glanced behind him to make sure Simon and Zoe were secured before speeding towards _Serenity_ with all the reckless finesse of a core world taxi driver. Jayne became worried when the prissy Doctor didn't voice his usual complaints concerning Jayne's driving. Jayne yelled behind them,"What happened? Any of ya's injured?"

Zoe informed, "Four purple-bellies tried arrest Simon. We fought our way out. Simon got his first Kill and a dislocated shoulder."

"Well then, congratulations on yer first kill! We may just make a man outta you yet!"

"It wasn't pretty," Zoe said with irritation Jayne couldn't find reasoning for. "Blew the commanding officer's head clean off."

"Why ain't the Doc sayin' nothin'?"

"He's been catatonic since we left."

"What's cat-tac-ton-uck?"

Zoe's answer was interrupted by a hail of gunfire. She shoved Simon down into the floorboard and drew her 'mare's leg.'

"Gorram hounds!" Jayne yelled as he made a sharp turn and drove the mule through a small alley. "We can't lead them back to the ship, not before we have all our cargo!"

"Any ideas on how we can lose them?" Zoe asked as she returned fire on the two police hovercraft pursuing them.

Jayne pondered thoughtfully,"Well I was just thinkin', wouldn't it be shiney if there was a hand held explosive device designed to be thrown at our enemies? And then I was thinkin' wouldn't it be shiney if the cap'n let me bring them?"

Another patrol craft pulled ahead to block the path in front of them. Unconcerned, Jayne simply made a slight alteration to their trajectory and rammed the back-left corner of the craft., causing the craft to spin hopelessly out of control and imped the pursuit the its fellow's behind them. "What kinda moron tries to block a road with a hovercraft? Even I know they ain't got no traction," Jayne laughed.

"We could go somewhere more populated, ditch the mule and blend in with the croud," Zoe suggested.

"Good as any plan, you got any ideas Three Percent?" Jayne asked Simon. After an uncomfortable pause Jayne said, "Doc?...Hmm... We may need to-"

"No one gets left behind," Zoe interrupted, her tone of voice left no room for argument.


	9. Chapter 9

(Another tentative chapter, I may tweak this one and 8 but only cosmetically. For now I really want to move the story forward. Comments of any kind are always appreciated.)

Chapter 9

"Our quarry has successful evaded the local authorities," a deep and professional voice sounded from a small handset.

"Excellent, send out the decoy and do everything within your power to ensure their escape," The female owner of the handset spoke into the device. She was an attractive young woman of sino ancestry, standing tall at around 5ft 10in with a companion's graze and a soldier's physique. "With any luck the good Doctor will lead us straight to his little sister."

"With all due respect ma'am, we could capture them now and get her location from them. It would cut their numbers in half and the profile indicates their captain's unlikely to leave while crewmembers are still unaccounted for. Also, we'd have secured the bounty on Simon Tam."

"Negative, this crew has proven quite unpredictable and resourceful in the past. We cannot afford to lose the element of surprise. They're up too something and I need to know what it is before we make our move."

"Yes ma'am, though I fail to see how their transport operations are important."

"Which is why you were not placed in charge of this operation," the woman replied shortly. She closed the handset and placed it in a stylish evening bag. She found herself absently twirled the elaborate ring on her left hand as she contemplated aloud, "Simon Tam, we have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

Jayne was pulled into _Serenity's _cargo bay and slammed on the brakes to avoid creaming the crazy psychic as River sprinted forward to meet them. River leapt inhumanly high into the air to land just in front of Simon and began shaking him violently, screaming, "Simon where are you? I can't hear you!"

"She's startin' to damage my calm…" Jayne began, as he climbed out of his seat.

Simon stared ahead blank faced and emotionless seemingly oblivious to everything, even his frightened little sister who was gripping him but the shoulders and shaking him.

"Gorramit Crazy, calm the hell down!" Jayne said as he pried her off of Simon, "You're gonna hurt him worse!" River's strength left her as she was separated from her brother. She wrapped her arms around Jayne and began crying into his shirt while Jayne tentatively patted her back in a manner he figured was supposed to be soothing.

"I'd better go fetch the Captain," Inara said as she hurried towards the crew quarters.

Kaylee approached the mule nervously and asked, "Is he… is Simon alright?"

Zoe deflected the question and ordered, "Help me get him into the infirmary."

* * *

"Mal?" Inara's voice called from outside Mal's cabin.

"What is it 'Nara?" Mal asked.

"Everyone's back and the rest of the crew are gathered around the infirmary," Inara informed.

"Everyone alright?"

"I'm not sure Mal… we need… I think the crew needs it's Captain right now…" Inara said. After an awkward pause, she added hastily,"I'm going back to the infirmary."

"Inara wait! I…" Mal stammered as he climbed up the hatch to find Inara had already left.

* * *

On his way to the infirmary Mal heard River crying and quickened his pace. As he entered the common room he saw the crew gathered outside of the infirmary while Zoe reset Simon's shoulder. Mal became concerned when he saw River's arms wrapped around Jayne as she cried into his chest. _That just ain't natural,_ Mal thought as he asked," Jayne, what's goin' on here?"

"I dunno, Doc's gone all can-tonic and Crazy say's she can't hear him."

"Lost in the woods… can't see… don't know where he is anymore, where he's going…" River sobbed and turned to face the Captain, "She wants to help but he won't listen."

"Don't you worry none lil' albatross, I'm the captain," Mal said with a grin, "also I'm bigger than he is, so he has to listen." Mal was releaved to see his comment eliciting a small smile from the troubled girl.

Mal walked into the infirmary and addressed the crew, "Got important cargo comin' in about 20 minutes that ain't gonna load itself. Zoe and I will handle things here. Ya all got jobs to do, now get to 'em!"

The rest of the crew, with the exception of Kaylee, dispersed to their respective jobs. Kaylee instead followed Mal inside the infirmary.

"Mei mei…" Mal began.

"I'm not leavin'," Kaylee cut him off.

Mal felt his blood begin to boil. "Mei mei, you have a job-"

"I'm not goin' till I know he's okay."

"He's fine, he's right here." Mal soothed as he pointed to Simon, who sat on the exam table with his arm in a sling and appeared oblivious to the world around him.

"He's not okay! He won't talk to no one," Kaylee sobbed, "It's like-"

Mal grabbed her by her shoulder's and said, "Mei mei, do you trust me?"

Kaylee sniffled and nodded yes.

"Zoe an' I've seen this before, during the war," Mal said as leaned his head in Simon's direction. "Do you have this kinda experience?"

Kaylee asked nervously, "What happened to him?"

After an uncomfortable pause, Mal said earnestly, "If you really want to help, look after River."

As Kaylee left, Mal ordered, "Zoe, lower the privacy shades and keep the others out. I don't 'spect this'll be too pretty."

* * *

"River?" Kaylee called as she walked through the passenger dorms, "River, where are you?"

Kaylee tried not to think about Simon as she searched for River. _'Sides,_ Kaylee reminded herself,_ he's with the Captain and Captain always makes sure we're okay. Just need to see to River, make sure she's shiney and show 'im how good I am at taken care 'o people._ Kaylee smiled and thought,_ and when he sees how good a ma I'd make I'll bet he can't wait to make little ones!_

"You need to be more patient," River stated, startling Kaylee from her pleasant musings.

"River… I… I was just looking for you," Kaylee stammered, "to check on you." _I'm startin' to sound like Simon now,_ Kaylee thought with a silent chuckle.

"I won't play nice," River said matter-of-factly.

"Um… Why?..."

"I'm not ready to be an aunt," River said bluntly.

"Well I ain't pregger's yet," Kaylee laughed nervously before continuing, "I mean, I really ain't right? I mean… you didn't uh… read nothin'…"

River rolled her eyes and said, "I knew you and my brother were meant to be together, you're both such boobs," as she began walking away.

"River," Kaylee called, walking after her, "Are you okay?"

"Better now, Captain Daddy has a plan. He's going to find my brother, but you have to be patient," River warned.

"River, do you have any idea how patient I've been with that boy?" Kaylee asked in exasperation.

"Not patient enough to keep it in your own rooms," River accused, "You need to stop rushing him. I'd like to see my brother every now and then if you'd let him out of your-"

"River!" Kaylee scolded, "We're adults and your brother can make his own decisions!"

"He won't fight you, but I will," River said with a mischievous smile, "I fight dirty!"

It suddenly occurred to Kaylee that River might be jealous. _After all, _Kaylee thought, _Simon did used to spend all his time with her 'stead a on me._

"More often under. Do I need to get a hose?" River asked.

"Well genius, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen," Kaylee taunted while conjuring up a particularly naughty mental image involving Simon and a pair of handcuffs.

"Gross!" River complained as she retreated, mentally and physically, and promised, "I'll get you for that!"


	10. Chapter 10

(Kinda short, but having this scene as its own chapter just felt right to me)

Chapter 10

Mal lead more than his fair share of barely trained soldiers during the war. Most of them had no business being on a battlefield, but Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds's leadership had always been able to keep their spirits intact, even when their bodies were broken. He accomplished this by instilling within them a sense of purpose.

Killing another human being was a very unnatural and traumatic event, especially in close combat. Most soldier's need a purpose or reason for killing to keep them from descending into madness. The reasoning acted as a mental lifeline, allowing the person to do regrettable things in the interest of a greater good. Such reasoning was dangerous, but so were most things in war.

Simon, however, was not a soldier. He was a healer and a gentle soul. Violence was simply not in his nature. He was not a weak man, but he had lived a sheltered life that left him woefully unprepared to handle the Rim, the Black, and all the nasty things the 'verse threw at the crew of the enigmatic Firefly, _Serenity_. All things considered, Mal was actually impressed Simon had made it this far before breaking. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to wait while Simon's spirit retreated within him and attempted to heal. Mal needed to make a connection and drag Simon's consciousness back into the real world. Mal whispered to himself, "Time to go fishing."

"So Doc, had an eventful day I take it," Mal began as he walked in front of Simon. Mal asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Simon continued his unfocused gaze at nothing. _Didn't think it would be that easy, _Mal thought,_ gonna need to use different bait._

Mal asked, "Kaylee's worried about ya… did you get her a ring yet?"

Simon remained unresponsive. Mal had a feeling this would be difficult, but he was hoping to draw the boy while sparing him as much pain as possible.

"Can't keep a girl waitin' like that ya know," Mal continued, "She's liable to shack up with Jayne."

Simon still didn't take the bait. Mal tried a different tactic, hoping to provoke a response. "I suppose that's not so bad a thing though, right? Didn't think you were man enough for Kaylee anyway," Mal taunted, regretting the words before he was finished speaking them.

Still there was no response. _Gonna have to aim lower, _Mal thought regrettably. "Your sister's really worried about ya, it's makin' her go nutty as squirrel turds," Mal said. _I really hope you don't make me use my trump card._

Mal wasn't certain, but he thought he say one of Simon's eyebrows twitch. "Well," Mal pressed, "Ya gonna do anything about it?" _Gorramit Simon take the bait._ "You're the only one can help her," Mal pressed further.

Mal let out a weary sigh at Simon's continued silence. Mal said, "You got two jobs on this boat, patchin' my crew and keepin' track of your crazy sister. If you can do neither, she becomes a liability and a danger to the crew."_ I hope you can forgive me for this,_ Mal thought as he began walking out of the infirmary and said, "Looks like I'll have to do the merciful thing and put her down like the rabid animal she's is!"

"No!" Simon screamed as he tackled Mal with surprising strength. Mal struggled to fend off the enraged Doctor.

"She's just an innocent little girl!" Simon continued as he slammed the back of Mal's head into the floor.

"Zoe!" Mal called, hoping she'd get there before he lost his cool and further injured the young Doctor. In the back of his mind, Mal thought, _well, I gave him a reason he could kill for, though I kinda wish it didn't involve me._

Zoe burst through the entryway and yanked Simon off of the Captain. Zoe and Mal were both taken aback as Simon raged against her grasp with the ferocity of a Reaver.

"Let me go! He's going to kill her! She-"

"Ain't no one else dyin' today, just calm down and stay with us," Zoe said, sounding oddly forceful and soothing.

"I… River…" Simon mumbled pathetically as he fell to his knees and began convulsing with quiet sobs.

Mal placed a reassuring hand on Simon's shoulder and said, "Welcome back Doctor."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Ms. Wu?" the deep professional voice sounded from the mysterious woman's handset.

"Report," the woman ordered into the unit as she boarded her luxury shuttle.

"The Doctor and the crew have safely boarded the Firefly Class Transport believed to be _Serenity_. The vessel took on a few containers of foodstuffs, broke atmo, and laid in a course for Londinum."

"It is highly unlikely those foodstuffs will even pay for the fuel required to travel to Londinum. They must be going there for another reason," Ms. Wu spoke into the handset. "Have they taken on any passengers?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, a registered companion by the name of Inara Serra and one Galen Sushruta who are scheduled to attend the Sapphire Ball on Lundinum."

"Galen and Sushruta were famous surgeons in the ancient world of Earth-that-was. This is likely Dr. Tam's alias, but why would a wanted fugitive risk exposure by attending 'the social event of the season'?"

"Very impressive Lien Wu, it took my team hours to discover that ID was a very clever forgery. Of course, we did not have your expert knowledge concerning ancient doctors at our disposal. As for why he would risk this appearance, perhaps he misses his former life and longs to experience it once more?"

"I suspect he does, though I doubt that is his reasoning," Lien Wu responded. _Simple Simon rarely did anything without solid reasoning. _"Set up a mobile command center on Londinum. I will attend the Ball and see to this personally."

"Yes ma'am."

Lien sighed as she took her seat and allow her mind to wander back to a simpler time, almost two decades ago.

"_Why do we have to go? It's going to be boring," a young Lien whined to her father._

_The older man laughed, "Because Daddy has important business with the Tams, and it won't be boring this time. They have a little boy about your age so you'll have a playmate."_

"_He's six years old! He's practically a baby!"_

"_Have you forgotten, you're only two years older?"_

"_And he's a boy," little Lien pouted, "boy's are gross."_

_The man laughed again and said, "We're here. Promise to behave and we'll pick up your favorite treat before we go back and see your mother."_

_Suddenly excited, Lien eagerly agreed, "I promise!"_

_When she met the Tam's for the first time, she thought they looked kind of like vampires. She had met people of anglo ancestry before, but the Tam's skin were especially fair and everything about them just seemed too straight and perfect. Well, everything but their boy, who was nervously half-hiding behind his mother's dress._

_After their parents made their introductions the boy tentatively approached Lien and offered his hand, saying, "I'm Simon, it's a pleasure to meet you."_

"_Huh," Lien chuckled, almost haughtily. The little boy's head and shoulders drooped and Lien's father gave her a warning nudge. Lien took Simon's hand, curtsied, and said, almost monotone, "I'm Lien, and the pleasure is all mine."Simon's features instantly brightened and Lien thought to herself, 'boys are so stupid'._

_Over the course of a year the families would visit each other several times, despite the fact that young Simon had apparently 'failed' some kind of assessment related to her father's program. Simon had quickly become Lien's favorite playmate. He would play whatever games she wanted and would believe everything she said without a second thought. She found his latter quality an endless source of amusement as she enjoyed getting prim and proper 'Simple Simon' into trouble._

_That is, until River was born…_

_Even as an infant, River Tam was constantly interrupting Lien and Simon's time together. Simon would leave every couple of minutes to check on his little sister. Suggesting they play near the baby only ensured little River was the only thing Simon noticed. _

_Lien had her nanny fix her long black hair to be 'extra pretty' one day before she went with her father to see Simon and the boy didn't even notice! Lien didn't understand why this hurt her so much, but that did not stop her from taking her frustrations out on the poor boy. She punched Simon right in the eye and River started crying. When Simon's mother entered the room, Simon told her he tripped and bumped his head on River's crib. Mrs. Tam told them they should leave the baby alone and go play outside._

_Lien couldn't bring herself to apologize, but she did let Simon choose everything they did for the rest of the day and hoped he understood she was sorry._

_Over the next couple of years Lien found her feelings towards boys in general, and Simon in specific, changing. She became busier and busier with school and extracurricular activities, but always found an excuse to see Simon, usually by roping him into helping her study or practice her fencing. This became much more difficult when River started dancing and he became the little brat's go to dance partner. _

_Lien had complained about this during one of her fencing sessions with Simon. Simon insinuated that, being an only child, Lien had trouble with the concept of sharing. Lien utilized the fencing practice to aggressively correct his assumption. However, once it was over, she could not convince Simon to join her again for another practice for almost two weeks. Rather the fight for his time and affection, Lien's cunning little mind raced to take advantage of the situation. She figured, 'if he would rather dance, than Lien would make him take her to a dance.' The thought of making his bratty little sister jealous only made the plan sweeter._

Lien was interrupted from her pleasant musings as her pilot informed her that they were two minutes away from docking her luxury liner, which she had been using as her base of operations. Thinking about her childhood friend, Lien laughed at the irony of their current situations. River Tam was the beginning of the all their problems and her capture would soon be the end of them. _The Wu and Tam family names would be restored_, Lien thought contentedly,_ and we can finally go back to where we belong._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

River was startled by a noise only she could hear. She heard Simon, as if he were right behind her, but something was wrong. She knew he was not really right behind her. That was preposterous considering he was approximately 31.385 meters away and down one level in the infirmary, though, that wasn't what was wrong.

"River," Kaylee asked with open concern, "are you alright?"

Kaylee's concern would normally be appreciated, but it was colored with much fear and insecurity concerning her brother. Kaylee's emotions always seemed to broadcast the most powerfully of the crew. After a rough day, River found the current effects especially disorienting. River shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

Kaylee began, "No? It'll be okay, let me just get Si-"

"No!" River stated emphatically, "Not ready. Can't see him."

"River, he's your brother. He loves you and only wants to help-"

"Stay away from him!" River shouted. _Why can't she understand?_

"River..." Kaylee began fearfully as she slowly shifted towards the engine room door, "I really think we should talk to Simon about this."

"Not ready," River repeated. _Why is she afraid of me?_ River could feel the tears coming that could not be stopped without a functioning amygdala. "Stay away from Simon. Serenity needs you more," River said as she ran towards the infirmary.

* * *

"Don't worry son, none of that's leavin' this room," Mal comforted as crouched on the infirmary floor to address Simon at eye level.

Simon nodded numbly. Simon appreciated the Captain's discretion, but his exhausted mind could not form the proper words.

"I know you don't wanna hear it," Mal said, "but ya done good today. Weren't for you and we coulda been short one first mate and the lot of us arrested."

_If it weren't for me, none of you would have any of this trouble, _Simon thought, but again nodded numbly. He lacked the strength for an argument.

"You've had a rough day. Why don't you get some rest. And if you need to talk about it," Mal said tentatively before finishing with a smirk, "find you a good listener. Someone not old mean and all hollowed inside. In other words, someone not me."

Mal rose and mussed Simon's hair as if he were a child.

While Simon appreciated all that they had done for him, Simon really wished Mal and Zoe would leave, especially Zoe. When their minds had connected earlier, during the gunfight, Simon saw a darkness in her that absolutely terrified him.

Simon relaxed a little as he listened to the two of them leave.

"Captain, was that really necessary?"

"What? I needed to lighten the mood. 'Sides Zo, we both know he's gonna brood first anyway."

"Simon?" River's voice traveled nervously from the infirmary entrance.

"Mei mei," Simon greeted, feeling somewhat relieved, "are you alright?"

"Not logical. Parameters have yet to be established to ensure accurate measurement. She is alive." River stated as she sat down on the infirmary floor in front of him.

Simon sighed and was about to speak when River slapped him before embracing him.

River cried, "Don't go away. Don't leave me again. You don't have to do this alone. We have a family now."

Simon tensed up. Family felt like a four letter word to him. To say he had abandonment issues would be an understatement. Simon returned River's embrace and attempted to sooth her, saying, "You're all the family I've got, and all that I need. I promise I'll never abandon you. I just… I… I'm not so sure who I am anymore."

"You're wrong! And you're stupid!" River said before burying face in Simon's shoulder. She sobbed, "I love you Simon, so you have to get better."

Simon began to feel helpless and guilty. _I'm supposed to protect her and now I'm hurting her._ "River," he asked tentatively, "Who am I?"

"You're my hero," River said as she fought to stifle her sobs. "You never gave up, even when everyone you knew abandoned you and the universe turned against us. You always tried to do the right thing, even when it was dangerous or stupid. You saved people's lives…" River began crying harder and was unable to continue.

"Mei mei," Simon comforted, "It's okay. I'm sorry I worried you."

"They said you abandoned me, didn't love me. I didn't think you would come."

Simon kissed her forehead and whispered, "then you were a dummy."

"Don't have to do it alone. We have a family now. You have to let them help you."

Simon again stiffened as his mind went numb.

River poked the left side of his chest and said, "Needs love just like everyone else. All around but it can't get in. Like a parachute. It needs to be open."

* * *

River left Simon in the infirmary and hoped he would take her advice. River had trouble putting her thoughts into words accurately ever since the trauma of the Academy, but she thought she expressed herself relatively clearly this time. _Not that it matters, _she thought with a sigh, _he never could take advice on matters of the heart._ River voiced her frustrations, "boob."

"What?" Jayne asked as he was sharpening his favorite knife in the meal table.

River took a seat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. Jayne resumed sharpening his knife stiffly, despite the fact that he had already finished, and asked her, "what do ya want Moonbrain?"

"I find your presence comforting," River explained. "Warm," she continued and pointed at his skull, "and not too loud."

"Uh… I'm not sure the Doc-"

"Needs love just like everyone else," River interrupted him.

"Listen Crazy, I really don't think-"

"Such a boob," River said again and headed towards the bridge.

"Uh… whatever."

River was releived to find the bridge empty as she sat at her copilots station and wrapper her arms around her knees. She felt her mind being drawn into the past approximately twelve years ago…

"_Why I can't I go? I'm really good at dancing!" six year old River pleaded with her parents and older brother._

"_Because you're a baby and Simon needs to spend more time with me as an adult!" Lien responded aggressively. River never liked Lien and couldn't understand what her brother saw in her._

_Simon immediately ran to comfort River and said, "It's okay mei mei, she used to call me a baby too. We can dance some other time."_

_River did not need to be comforted, but she did enjoy watching Lien roll her eyes in exasperation. As Simon returned to Lien's side River made obnoxious kissing noises and said, "have fun on your date!"_

_Simon turned red as a strawberry and Lien grabbed his wrist and roughly yanked him out the door. Lien was fifteen years old and had already hit her growth spurt. At only thirteen years, Simon was smaller and powerless to stop her even had he wanted to._

"_River! Where are your manners?" River's father admonished._

"_I'm sorry daddy," River said as she looked down and drew invisible pictures in the carpet with the tip of her shoe._

"_Now I expect you to be on your best behavior as Mr. Wu conducts his assessment of your mental facilities and development."_

"_I bet I can do better than my brother!" River said eagerly, excited at the prospect of beating him in yet another competition._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Status report," Lien ordered as she entered the bridge the of her luxury yacht, _Golden Lotus._

The _Golden Lotus's _Captain addressed her, "Ma'am, we are on course for Londinum and maintaining present distance from target Firefly. So long as they don't go to full burn, we should have no trouble staying far enough ahead of them."

"Good, have the ASREV's on standby just in case," Lien commanded. Lien was not expecting any trouble from the small Firefly, it was as good as hers whenever she wanted to take it. At present she was more concerned with defending her catch from any other hunters in the area.

"Ma'am, our scans from Persephone show the vessel to be unarmed. We capture them in deep space, minimalize casualties, and keep things quiet while you decide what to do with the captives," the Captain suggested.

"Patience Captain, we have all the time in the 'verse. We'll shadow them for now. If we are fortunate, they will reveal their plans without the need of an interrogation. Whatever they are up to, they cannot afford to draw attention to themselves. If we use this to our advantage, we may be able to take them on Londinum without firing a single shot."

"Of course ma'am, your strategy is sound. Still, those independents can be a squirrelly bunch. I can't help but feel every minute given to them is another thing that can go wrong for us, but that kind of thinking's just an old habit left over from the war. I will alert you if anything changes."

"Very well," Lien dismissed as she left the bridge and headed for her private quarters.

Lien Wu meant every word she said concerning her strategy for capturing the fugitives, but that did not mean she was without ulterior motives for attending the Ball. Though she knew it was illogical, she took the knowledge that Simon was attending the Sapphire Ball as a good omen as she remembered how dancing had brought them together in the past…

_Lien was thrilled to discover she had the best dancer at the party on her arm. Lien had always been competitive, despite the lack of siblings, and found herself enjoying the jealousy of her peers almost as much as she enjoyed Simon's attention. _

_Unfortunately Simon was also the youngest and smallest boy in attendance. Some of the other jealous boys felt the need to draw attention to this fact in the rudest manner they could manage, because boys are stupid. To make matters worse, Simon would not even defend himself against their ridicule. That boy was just too proper for his own good! _

_Finally Lien lost patience and decided to rescue her date. She knew it was distastefully forward for a woman to ask a man, but Lien would not wait on Simon any longer. "Simon, you wanted to dance again didn't you?"_

"_Oh, uh, Lien, will you allow me the honor of this dance?" Simon stammered._

"_Why, I'd be delighted!"_

_That dance turned out to be a turning point in the Tam and Wu families' relationship. Lien was convinced that it was her and Simon's time together, and not the fact the Simon's brat of a sister passed some assessment with flying colors, the convinced her father to visit the family more often. She did not understand what everyone else saw in the little girl and was more than a little irritated when her own father starting paying such close attention to the brat. _

_Over the years Lien had matured and learned to tolerate the little girl, quickly discovering that River was the quickest route to Simon's heart. Eventually, Simon started Med School and becoming a doctor became his new obsession. _

_Lien saw much less of Simon during those days, but so did everyone else. She would visit him as often as their college schedules would allow it and, although he had grown into a very handsome young man, Lien could clearly see he was still that shy little boy at heart. That shy little boy was as infuriating as he was adorable, but Lien had learned to be patient, at least with Simon. She knew River would be attending a special academy next year and, for the first time in fourteen years, Lien would have Simon all to herself again._

* * *

Zoe entered _Serenity's _bridge, hoping for be alone with her thoughts but finding River curled up in the copliot's chair instead. "You feeling okay sweetie?" Zoe asked as she stroked the troubled girl's hair.

"Not logical," River spoke distantly, "Specters of the past, visions of the future. They want to take us away."

"Don't worry dear, we ain't leavin' anyone behind," Zoe comforted, "That means one gets taken away."

"He's afraid of you."

"Who is?" Zoe asked, not sure why River's words bothered her so.

"Worried about Simon."

_Guess I won't be getting' that answer,_ Zoe thought. With all that has transpired, Zoe doubted this would be one of her more coherent days. Still, Zoe thought it was probably best to keep the girl talking. She asked, "You went to see him? After we left?"

"Better now with Kaylee, but she can't fix everything."

"Oh, I doubt that little one," Zoe said with a smile, "just give her some time."

* * *

Kaylee was humming happily to herself on her way to see Simon. After seeing to _Serenity,_ she used the blue prints from the data stick given to her earlier to construct several fascinating 'spy gadgets.' She even invented a few of her own. As she skipped into the infirmary, she concealed one of the devices she was particularly proud of behind her back as she greeted Simon with a smile and said, "Hey you."

"Kaylee," Simon greeted as he began to rise awkwardly from the infirmary bed where he had been resting, a task that would have been considerably easier without the sling of questionable benefit. Ironically, hundreds of years of medical practice had never gotten around to determining whether immobilization had any significant effect on recovery from a dislocated shoulder. In his current condition, Simon's injured limb retained nearly full strength and mobility, but he opted to keep his right arm in the sling on the off chance it accelerated his recovery.

"No, please, don't get up," Kaylee said. "I just came to check on ya and give you a surprise."

Simon smiled but stood up anyway. Kaylee had a way of lighting up a room that seemed to lighten his entire world. When she was near him, Simon felt like anything was possible. He kept his hand on the infirmary bed for good measure as he leaned forward to place a clumsy kiss on the tip of her nose and said, "I've got something for you too bao bei."

Kaylee giggled and exclaimed "Shiney!" and then narrowed her eyes as if to intimidate him and said, "but ya ain't off the hook. What's wrong with ya?"

Simon struggled to contain his laughter. When Kaylee leaned forward with her eyes narrowed and her hands behind her back, Simon thought she was about as intimidating as a teddy bear. "It's no big deal… well… except for the bruised femur."

"Oh," Kaylee said uncertainly, "um… Is that bad?"

"I still retain full use of my leg and estimate it's strength at about 80% normal for the time being," Simon assured her, "However, if I place too much weight on it for too long a duration, it begins to swell and throb quite painfully."

"Oh," Kaylee said, now comprehending, "Well, I noticed you was havin' a little trouble walkin' past few days, so I made you a present," Kaylee smiled and brought her hands in front of her to reveal a fancy looking gentleman's dress cane. Kaylee continued enthusiastically, "You can us it keep weight off your leg till it's done healing."

Simon winced self-consciously and then smiled at the bubbly mechanic. "Thank you, I appreciate it… I really do … I really hate feel like an invalid."

"You don't like it?" Kaylee asked with a wavering voice that made Simon's heart break. He knew he had to the say the right thing quickly but he couldn't figure out what that was.

"No. I-I…I mean yes! Yes! Kaylee I…" Simon took a breath and continued, "I meant no I don't _not _like it, but yes would have been a better answer." Simon released hold of the infirmary bed to squeeze her arm and promised her, "One day I will learn how to speak to you without upsetting you."

Kaylee giggled and playfully slapped him with her other hand. "Don't go makin' promises ya can't keep Dr. Tam," Kaylee said before looking at Simon with large eyes full of love and excitement and asking, "So what did ya get me?"

Simon gazed into big green her eyes, speechless and overjoyed. He felt his heart swell for her and, for the first time in as long as he could remember, Simon felt like he was truly loved and belonged somewhere. The feeling was exhilarating and terrifying. Simon shook his head as if to clear it, realizing Kaylee asked him a question some time ago. "I'm sorry," Simon apologized, "I…sometimes it's just hard to believe this is actually happening."

Kaylee did not appear to mind in the slightest. "Yeah," she said with a happy sigh, "isn't it wonderful?"

Simon broke eye contact and fumbled around in his pocket. Kaylee gasped and flattened her hands against her cheeks as she watched him pull out a ring. It was a simple ring of stainless steel and in the shape of a sunflower with an orange gemstone set in the center. Simon took another deep breath and said, "I wish I could afford… Kaylee you disserve-"

"It's beautiful!" Kaylee exclaimed, interrupting him with a joyful embrace and further silencing him with a passionate kiss. Simon closed his eyes and let the entire 'verse disappear. She opened her mouth, inviting him inside and deepening the kiss, and Simon met her passion with his own. For a blissful moment, Simon existed for the sole purpose of loving the beautiful woman in front of him.

When their lips parted, Simon's head was swimming and he realized with embarrassment that Kaylee was holding him upright again. Simon focused on supporting his own weight, curiously finding the task more difficult than he remembered. He muttered an apology that Kaylee either ignored or failed to notice and took a seat on the infirmary bed.

Kaylee placed the ring on her finger with a contented sigh and turned to face Simon. She placed a hand on each of his shoulders, gave them an affectionate squeeze and gazed eagerly into his eyes, exclaiming, "I can't wait till the day we become Dr. and Mrs. Frye!"

Simon's breath caught in his throat and he began choking.

"Oh honey, are you okay?" Kaylee asked, suddenly concerned. She gently beat Simon's back as he steadied his breathing.

Unable to find words, Simon nodded meekly in response.

"Oh! I almost forgot to show you what all your present does," Kaylee said as she picked up Simon's cane.

"The fact that it allows me to take weight off of my bruised femur makes me overjoyed."

"Well yeah, ya walk with it, but it also does this," Kaylee said as she held the cane sideways and pressed one of three cleverly disguised buttons, causing compressed air to shoot out bottom of the cane and inadvertently knock over a few medicine bottles five feet away.

"I see. So I can make it look like River or Jayne has been left unsupervised in my infirmary without leaving a fingerprint," Simon remarked sarcastically as he stood and walked over to clean up the mess.

Kaylee giggled sheepishly and continued speaking, "It also has a sword inside and it can launch a magnetic grappler-"

"I sword? Why would I-" Simon asked as he spun around and quickly silenced himself. He could see Kaylee's shoulders drooping with her spirits and he knew he had to make things better quickly. He hurried back to her side, wrapped his good arm around her, and gently kissed her forehead. "I love it and I love you," Simon assured her as he pulled her close rocked her gently back and forth in much the same manner as he had when comforting River in the past. He whispered into her ear, "I will find a way to use it and I will think of you every time I do."

Despite his best efforts, Kaylee seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Was just worried 'bout you is all," she said as she looked down, absently playing with her engagement ring, "Thought'cha could take it on yer dangerous mission. We got no way of knowin' what all you'll need and I thought…I thought if I can give ya enough tools, you'll make it safely back to me."

Simon did not know what to say, which was hardly surprising, so he squeezed her as tight as his one armed embrace could manage and pleaded, "Tell me what I can do, bao bei. I'll do anything."

"Just promise you'll come back to me."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Captain, we need you on the bridge," Zoe's voice sounded though the ship wide com.

"On my why, what's the problem?" Mal called into an outdated handset as sprinted up the cargo bay stairs towards the crew quarters and bridge.

"Got two unidentified and armed freighters rapidly closing on our six. Think they may be pirate boats."

"Why can't things never-" Mal began and interrupted himself as he entered the bridge. He continued thoughtfully, "Well, maybe this is a good sign Zo, get our bad luck out of the way before we start a job for a change. Albatross, can we outrun them?"

"Out of the fire and into the frying pan," River responded.

"Um… is that a yes?" Mal asked.

"Captain we are being hailed… twice…" Zoe said uncertainly from the communications console.

"Shenme?" Mal asked.

"The pirates behind us are ordering us to shut down our engines. A luxury liner in front of us is asking if we need assistance," Zoe explained.

"Can we make it to that big fancy boat in time?" Mal asked River.

"I'm going to need Kaylee in the engine room," River said calmly.

* * *

"Kaylee I need you in the engine room gettin' us ready to go full burn right now!" Mal's voice sounded through the infirmary intercom.

Kaylee sighed as she pulled out of Simon's embrace. "Couldn't just let us have our moment could they?" she pouted and threatend, "an' if this ain't no fer no better reason than to test our new parts, someone's climate control's gonna be on the fritz."

"Here, let me help you," Simon offered as he followed her out of the infirmary.

"You're a sweetie, but you should stay in here," Kaylee said as she pointed to his sling, "You have to get better."

Simon shrugged the sling off and said, "The sling is not necessary, I can use my arm," as he moved it around to demonstrate.

"Simon I don't have time to argue, just stay out of the way. Don't want you gettin' hurt none," Kaylee said, offering a truce and allowing him to tag along.

They reached the engine room and Kaylee immediately went to work. Simon loved to watch her work on _Serenity, _she truly did have a gift for working with machines. Her hands shifted from component to component like a concert pianist as she moved with around the engine with an almost athletic grace. The way she would arch her back and make use of her entire body to generate enough torque to move a particularly stubborn piece of machinery sent a rush of energy straight to his groin.

The entire ship shudder violently and without warning. Simon's leg throbbed as he was thrown into the bulkhead and he was dimly aware of the hull breach alarm and some hissing sound before Kaylee's voice brought his mind back into focus.

"Simon! The Door!" she shouted.

Simon ran to the engine room door, stumbling once along the way as another violent tremor shook _Serenity's_ floor. As he was struggling to close the door, Simon heard Kaylee's scream, followed by a loud. Breathing heavily, Simon turned around to call for Kaylee when his heart stopped in his chest. Kaylee lay unconscious on the engine room floor, bleeding from her forehead, with engine parts scattered about her that Simon could not begin to identify.

"Kaylee?" Mal's voice sounded from the engine room intercom. "Kaylee we lost engine power what's going on?"

Simon had never been so greatful for his medical training in his life as it allowed him to focus remain calm as he entered his 'doctor mode.' After quickly determining that Kaylee's vitals were steady, Simon frantically looked around for a suitable cloth or rag to serve as a bandage. He found several rags, but they were all covered in engine grease and Simon wanted to stop her bleeding without causing an infection. _Of course, I'll use my shirt. _He grabbed his right sleeve with his left hand and tugged fiercely at the material, wincing as it tugged uncomfortably against his injured shoulder before tearing and sliding off of his arm. Simon hastily applied the makeshift bandage to Kaylee's injury while releasing a breath he did not realize he was holding.

"Kaylee! Are you okay?" Mal's voice sounded again, desperately through the com, "Mei mei, what happened?"

"Oh God," Simon gasped as he realized both the engine and the engineer were non-responsive and he was the only one that could see to either of them.

* * *

"Ms. Wu, the Firefly Class Transport is under attack," the _Golden Lotus's_ Captain informed Lien as she entered the bridge.

_Oh God! Simon, please be ok. _"Deploy the ASREV's and turn this ship around. I want an emergency response team prepared and our medical facilities on standby."

"Yes ma'am."

"Who are they? How did this happen?"

"They appear to be pirate vessels. More than likely, they were running dark and waiting to ambush the first defenseless craft to cross their path. Those are not warships and our ASREV's should have little difficulty in dealing with them."

"But will they get there in time?"

"We have every strategic advantage in this engagement. All that Firefly has to do is give use a little more time," the Captain said as he dodged the question.

Lien Wu watched helplessly as the Firefly's bulb flickered twice before going dark.

* * *

"Jayne, I need you to check on Kaylee." Mal ordered into the com.

"Cain't Mal, there's a hull breach somewheres," Jayne replied, "computer won't let me out of my bunk!"

"Inara?" Mal asked.

"Same Mal, I am effectively locked in my shuttle."

"Doc?" Mal asked and tried again after getting no response, "Simon, can you get to the engine room?"

"I'm here, Captain. Kaylee's alright now, but she's unconscious."

_Of all the ruttin' luck. _"Can ya wake her?" Mal asked.

"No, but I have an idea," Simon replied.

"No! Don't do it!" River cried. Mal was glad his com was not transmitting at the moment. Like it not, Simon was their best option at this moment and Mal did not want the boy losing his nerve by listening to his troubled sister.

Zoe held River tightly as the girl babbled incoherently in another language, and asked the Captain, "You have any idea what he's going to do sir?"

"To be perfectly honest Zoe, I'm afraid to find out."

* * *

"Calm down," Simon attempted to comfort himself, "it's all just academic really. Fact, Kaylee knows how to fix the engine. Fact, I am the only person here. So… I just need Kaylee's knowledge in my head…now!" Simon shouted as he stared intently at Kaylee's unconscious form.

Simon frowned and tried again, "Or how about… now!" Still he received nothing.

He placed his hand on her forehead and chanted, "My mind to your mind. Hmm… oh sorry, that's backwards." _Why did I apologize? It's not like… wait… can she hear me… or my brain? _

Simon shook his head to clear it and tried again, "You're mind to my mind!"

_Still no response… _"Meld with my consciousness! Embrace eternity! Go mind go!" Simon shouted in desperation.

Simon ran a hand through his hair and groaned in frustration. His eyes and mind wandered until they came across curious gadget on lying on Kaylee's workbench. It was some form of wide armband with a needle hooked up to a small electric motor and five chemical vials. "The drugs!" Simon exclaimed. It appeared Kaylee had found a way for Simon to covertly utilize them already. Simon fastened the armband around his sleeveless right bicep and pressed the button. The small needle bit into his flesh and released the chemicals meant to enhance his latent psychic abilities.

Simon gasped as his mind was overrun with emotional chaos. Fear, pain, hate, worry, love and hope flowed through him as Simon cried tears that were not his own. _Focus Simon, focus, _Simon mentally ordered himself as he attempted to enter 'doctor mode.' _You have a patient, her name is Serenity. You need to acquire her complete medical history from her caretaker, Kaylee._

Kaylee's knowledge and personality flooded into him, sweeping his consciousness away in its powerful current. For the next few moments, Simon thought he really was Kaylee. "Ain't no power in the 'verse gonna keep my baby from flyin'," Simon said as he grabbed his favorite wrench and went to work. "Don't worry baby," Simon told _Serenity,_ "I'll have ya up and runnin' afore you could spit! Not that you spit, but… you know…"

Simon diverted power around the damage sectors, replaced the compression coupling and smiled as _Serenity's _heart began beating once more, its engine surging triumphantly to life. Simon wiped a bit of grease off of his cheek and patted his engine affectionately, cooing, "that's my good girl…"

Mal was nearly thrown out of the bridge as _Serenity_ went from a complete stop to full burn without warning.

"I'll be damned," Zoe whispered, "he actually did it."

"Hang on travelers," Mal said to no one in particular as he took the helm and guided _Serenity_ away from the pirates and past the approaching luxury liner.

"Big brother saved us all," River said with pride and a hint of worry.

"That he did little one," Mal exclaimed, "and at this speed, we'll be half way to Londinum afore any of them can even turn around! 'Might need to give 'im a raise. Whaddya think, from peanuts to pistachios?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kaylee awoke groggily with a throbbing headache. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to gaze upon her beloved from the bed in the infirmary, but her eyes instead focused on the roof of the engine room and Kaylee began to worry. She closed them in an attempt to recall what series of events led her to the engine room floor and with a headache that made her feel like her skull was in a vice. She cautiously probed her forehead with her fingers and found the soft fabric of a gentleman's shirt tied snuggly around it. _Feels like one of Simon's shirts,_ she mused.

"Simon!," Kaylee gasped, as her eyes snapped open. She rolled onto her stomach and gingerly lifted herself on her hands and knees while she searched the room for Simon. She called out to him, "Simon, are you here? Are you ok?"

"Too much. Too sharp," Simon's voice mumbled from somewhere nearby. Kaylee scanned the area and found him backed into the darkest corner of the engine room rocking back and forth hugging his knees to his chest in a manner disturbingly similar to River.

"Honey," Kaylee called out to him as she attempted to stand. A wave of dizziness crashed over her and she decided crawling to him was a better plan. She reached Simon and wrapped her arms around his quivering form, cradling his head against her breast. "It's okay baby, just tell me what's wrong," Kaylee soothed as she rocked him gently back and forth.

"They aren't mine and I shouldn't have them," he sobbed, "it isn't right."

"Sweetie what's-" Kaylee began before interrupting herself with a gasp. He was wearing the armband drug dispenser she created. _He must have used the drug… how long will he…_ "It's okay sweetie I'm here," Kaylee soothed, trying her best to emulate what she had seen of Simon comforting River in the past, "I'm here and you're safe. We're all gonna be just fine."

"I can- c-c-c-c-c… it's difficult…"

"Shhhh," Kaylee whispered while placing a finger on his lips, "it's okay. You don't gotta to say nothin'. I'll take care o' you. 'Sides," Kaylee said, favoring him with a smile, "Talkin's never been yer strong suit anyways." Kaylee felt a tremendous weight lifting off of her shoulders as Simon's tremors slowly began to subside and his breathing became more regular.

"I suggest ya all get comfortable," the captain's voice came over the ship wide com, "breach's got us all locked in our current locations 'til we make planet fall in four hours."

Kaylee shifted a little in an attempt to find a more comfortable position and felt Simon's pulse quickening. She looked down and found herself staring into the most frightened blue eyes she had ever seen. She gave him a gentle squeeze and her best smile, assuring him, "It's gonna be okay, honey, I ain't goin' nowhere. Ya just gotta hold on till those chemicals leave your system."

* * *

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we will not be able to catch them before they reach Londinum, and their lead on us affords them plenty of time to hide their vessel," the _Golden Lotus's_ Captain informed Lien Wu.

"No matter," Lien responded, "the plan is still functional. I will make contact with the good doctor at the Ball and obtain the location of his sister myself. I already have a team on site, they need only a location and my authorization to proceed."

"Those browncoats are a squirrelly bunch. Even their bad luck seems to work against us," the Captain said in exasperation, "If they had not come under attack we would have never lost them."

"Don't worry about the browncoats. We have the numerical and technological advantage, same as you did during the war. They'll get what's coming to them if they stand in our way. As for Simon, let's just say he's never been difficult to manipulate in the past."

* * *

"Hmm?" Simon awoke with a start. He opened his eyes and found his world to be a blurry mosaic. His nose and ears identified his location as _Serenity's_ Engine Room and Simon could feel himself swaying slowly, as if in a swing or hammock. He blinked few times and tried in vain to will his vision into focus. "Kaylee?" Simon called nervously, hoping she was in the engine room and could provide him with answers.

A blurry image approached him from his right side. Simon knew to it be Kaylee by the way it made him feel safe and warm. She placed a hand on his forehead and asked him tenderly, "How are you feelin' sweetie?"

"Odd…" Simon began, "and exhausted. I had the strangest dream and now I'm having trouble seeing clearly…" Simon paused as his arms shifted a bit underneath a blanket, "and I think I'm naked."

Kaylee giggled and said, "I think you're right. You've had a rough day an' you were hurtin' so I figured you could use some rest."

"You figured I should be naked as well, I take it?"

"Oh… I might'ave…" Kaylee began mischievously for asking in a worried voice, "you really don't remember?"

_Oh no, what did I do and how can I make it right?_ Simon thought in a panic. _Well I guess the first step is to find out how bad it is._ "No, bao bei," Simon asked nervously, "was it bad?"

"Yeah," Kaylee said sadly, "It was really bad…"

_Could I have possibly made her angry enough to beat me amnesiac?_ "Kaylee," Simon stammered, "I'm sorry. You've got to believe me, I would never hurt you on purpose. Whatever I said, I didn't mean it!"

"You don't gotta be sorry, Simon, it was my fault we were in this mess to begin with."

_It's not my fault? It's not my fault and I can't even remember it, _Simon lamented at the unfairness of the 'verse. _The shock must have been too much for my brain to handle, _Simon thought sarcastically. "Um, okay, what did I not do?" Simon asked uneasily.

"Maybe I should explain…wait, what's the last thing that you remember?"

"Hmm…" Simon began tentatively, "we were being chased by pirates and I followed you into the engine room. _Serenity_ took a hit, you got hurt and I helped you. That's all I remember."

"Oh, well sometime between what you remember and when I woke up, you fixed _Serenity _up real nice. Not sure I coulda done much better myself. I think _Serenity _likes ya!"

"Strange, I dreamed I was fixing _Serenity_, except I was you and… "Simon's voice paused for a moment and then hastily finished, "and it was weird."

Kaylee continued hesitantly, "Well… you took the drug. The one them strangers gave ya an' it had ya in a real mess. I found you curled up and cryin' in the corner an' I was so worried!" Though Simon could not see well enough to confirm this, he was fairly certain Kaylee was close to tears. "I warpped my arms around you and tried be all comfortin' like you do with River. I held you till you fell asleep and then I put you in the hammock so's you could rest."

_Perhaps I should be grateful of the fact that I don't remember. _"Oh…"Simon said nervously, "Um… and why am I naked? I didn't… soil my clothing did I?" Simon asked with a wince.

"No, sweetie," Kaylee reassured him, "but I'd have taken care of ya just the same." Kaylee continued in a more mischievous tone "after I got ya in the hammock, I saw you was sufferin' from one of the side effects. Now you can see…or rather can't see…that you're sufferin' another of 'em."

"What do you…Oh," was all Simon could manage when Kaylee's hand gently grasped his tower of arousal through the blanket. Simon was suddenly less worried about his blurry vision. In fact, he was suddenly less cognizant of everything not immediately connected to his pulsing member.

"Came back in a hurry too," Kaylee said approvingly.

"Wha-what?" Simon stammered between labored breaths, "You mean… did we…"

"Twice… I'm sorry, Simon, I know you was asleep, but engines make me hot and we're locked in this room together hours from planet fall. I just couldn't help myself."

"I feel violated."

"Let me help you get over that," Kaylee teased playfully.

Simon found he was incapable of argument.

* * *

A few hours later, _Serenity_ touched down in a secluded landing pad outside of one of the larger cities on Londinum. River had calmed considerably since they touched down, but she played up her anxiety concerning her brother to the Captain and convinced him into letting her check on Simon and Kaylee in the engine room while Zoe saw to Jayne and Mal checked in on Inara.

River was happy that Simon was finally building a life for himself on their new home out in the black, but she did not entirely approve of how he was doing it. River loved Kaylee as a sister, but she often found the waves of passion emanating from their coupling distracting and slightly disturbing. Despite their relative distance from her in the engine room, she found today's escapades particularly unnerving. She had to give up the helm and ask Zoe to pilot for her as she was buffeted by the residual shockwaves of their passionate explosions in the engine room.

_River weathered the first storm patiently and was eager to return to piloting before she paused incredulously as she felt hurricane Kaylee start its cycle all over again. River found the sexual turbulence infuriating and began to wonder if it would ever stop. What I wouldn't do for a smoother, River tiredly thought to herself. Although River's knowledge of sex was purely clinical, she thought it should have ended long before now. 'Correction, I estimate it ended four times already. When will it stay ended?' When the sensual typhoon finally subsided, River collected herself and focused her thoughts on revenge. _

River approached the engine room door on silent bare feet, listening as their minds slumbered in tired contentment. She eased the door open cautiously and peered inside. Kaylee lay peacefully sated on top of her lover in her colorful hammock, both of them naked as the day they were born.

"Won't play nice," River taunted sleeping Kaylee as she quietly gathered each article of Kaylee and her brother's clothing. She slipped out of the engine room to deposit them in a hiding place before returning to steal their blanket. She gently tugged at the colorful fabric until the edges were free of the couple's weight and then removed the cover in one swift motion. Kaylee to stirred and mumble something into Simon's chest before falling asleep once more.

River crept out of the engine room with a colorful blanket and an evil laugh. She deposited it with the rest of their clothing and said, "It's about time your sex life made _you_ uncomfortable for a change."

* * *

Simon stirred under Kaylee and rolled his head to the side, murmuring, "Good morning, bao bei," half asleep.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds responded, "Well, goodmornin' yerself sweetheart."

"What?" Simon's eyes snapped and revealed to him an angry captain and an amused crew. Simon found himself wishing his vision was still blurry.

Simon frantically reached down to pull up their blanket and gasped as his hand slapped against Kaylee's bare ass instead. Jayne chuckled, Mal drew his sidearm, and Kaylee stirred in Simon's arms and moaned suggestively before asking, "Ya ready for round six?"

Mal made a small choking sound before turning to look at Zoe incredulously, and mouth '_round six?'_

Zoe arched an eyebrow and gave him the distinct impression he ought to look for answers elsewhere.

"Um…Kaylee," Simon nervously began.

"Hmm?" Kaylee asked before she opened her eyes with a gasp and realized the entire crew was in the engine room and, with the exception of River and Mal, laughing hysterically. "Oh dear," was all Kaylee her groggy mind could manage before panic caught up with her and her head snapped around to face Simon, painfully crashing into his nose. She asked anxiously, "Simon, where's our blanket?"

Simon clutched his nose and responded nasally, "how should I know?"

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" River answered smugly, "Told you I'd get you back!"

Mal regained his composure and began to exert his authority, shouting, "Yall know how I feel 'bout shipboard relationships and yall oughta know I don't care what you do on your time, in your own bunks. But this, "Mal shouted incredulously, "is re-gorram-diculous!"

Simon stammered, "Captain I'm… I'm very sor-"

"Honestly, Three Percent, do I have to spell it out for you? Let's go down the list. Can we rut in the engine room?" Mal asked and then continued with an elongated, "Nooo," while theatrically shaking his head. "Can we rut in our bunks on our own time? Yes," Mal said in the same manner, complimenting his phrasing with an exaggerated head nod.

"Captain, I am not a moron-"

"Really?" Mal interrupted, "Cause it seems to me there's an essential element to this concept you just aint graspin'. Namely the one beginning with an 'N' and ending with an 'O', which, uh, by the way spells the word 'no' in case you were wonderin'."

"Mal," Inara struggled to speak between laughs, "take it easy, they're just young and in love."

"Which is a right dangerous combination!" Mal countered angrily, "Now ya can't help bein' young, but you can damn well keep your 'love' in your own gorram rooms!"

"Um, can we get a blanket or something?" Simon asked sheepishly, but his plea was either lost in the laughter or ignored entirely.

"Cap'n it weren't his fault," Kaylee defended Simon, "he was sufferin' side effects from the medicine."

"Shenme?"

"Or, ya know, some clothes… maybe a robe…" Simon continued

"Remember the reader drugs them strangers gave us?" Kaylee asked. Mal nodded and Kaylee continued, "Remember how they got those side affects?"

"Not all of them. Wait, did he take that drug?" Mal asked apprehensively.

"Yeah, that's how he fixed _Serenity_ and then he started freakin' out for a bit before sufferin' the side effects."

"Which were what precisely?" Mal inquired impatiently.

"The blurred vision and increased libido," Kaylee answered.

After a pregnant pause, Simon broke the silence, pleading, "Honestly, I'd settle for a towel…"

* * *

Mal ordered the crew to disperse, instructing everyone to meet in the Galley in half an hour. He followed Inara into her shuttle to speak with her in private.

"Inara," Mal began tentatively, "You don't have to do this. We can find another way."

"I'm going with him Mal," Inara stated firmly. "Simon won't be able to do this on his own and you know it." This was not the first time they've had this discussion and Inara's patience was severely strained. A small part of her greatly appreciated Mal showing genuine concern for her in the only way he knew how. However, a much larger part of her was currently infuriated with the stubborn man.

"We can send Jayne, pretend like they're sly," Mal said with a smirk.

Inara arched one eyebrow, refusing to dignify Mal's comment with a response.

"Right, not the most subtle of approaches… but there's no reason you need-"

"There's every reason!" Inara nearly screamed in frustration. "Things are different in the core and it's where Simon and I-"

"Belong?" Mal interrupted spitefully.

Inara gasped. "How could you say that? It's not-," Inara paused to collect herself and continued calmly, "It's where we're from, but I doubt either of us belong there anymore."

"Yeah? Well I'm not so sure yall really belong _here_ either," Mal spat venomously. "He'd be out there with all the other selfish alliance rich folk if he wasn't a penniless fugitive. And you spend your time whoreing with those types anyway!"

"Then it seems the issue has been resolved, Captain," Inara said coldly. "As you've callously made clear, Simon and I are the only members of the crew that fit right in."

Mal opened his mouth to speak but couldn't form any words. He scowled and shouted, "Shiney!" as he stormed out of her shuttle.

* * *

Thirty minutes later a thoroughly embarrassed, but fully clothed, Simon and Kaylee met the rest of the crew in the Galley. Simon had taken to using his new cane for extra support when Kaylee wasn't eagerly providing it in the crutch's stead. Mal and Jayne were standing impatiently while the rest of the crew sat at the table. Simon took a seat gingerly and Kaylee stood behind him with her hands placed possessively on each of Simon's shoulders.

"Just so you know," Mal said in their direction, "You ain't heard the last of this. You," He said, pointing to Simon, "have till the end of this job to convince me not to kill you. I hope for your sake it's somethin' mighty compellin'."

"Can I shoot 'im?" Jayne asked.

"Jayne!" Kaylee said irritably.

"Can I shoot 'im when he gets back?" Jayne amended.

"Maybe," Mal answered, "and don't think you're off the hook Little Miss. No, I'm going to find something special for you to take care of while he's gone. I've always thought Serenity's water reclamation and septic units could be made more efficient. And, woudn't ya know it, we happen to be grounded planetside for a spell with a capable mechanic and an alliance credit line."

River began laughing hysterically.

"I am so gonna get you for this Little Witch," Kaylee said menacingly.

Simon, however, could not be happier as he gazed upon his sister with huge grin. River was his bratty, normal little sister again, if only for the moment. Moments like these were what kept him going. He would gladly take any embarrassment or punishment in stride if it made his little sister happy like this.

"What you smilin' at?" Kaylee asked accusingly as she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Uh… it was just…" Simon began and, thinking quickly, improvised, "you're so amazing."

"Aw… Simon," Kaylee said sweetly as she embraced him from behind.

River made an exaggerated retching sound and Mal cleared his throat impatiently.

"If yer done neckin' we have a job to plan for," Mal said irritably. "First," Mal ordered, "It seems the experimental drug has been tested. I need to know exactly what happened and how it affected you as it could have a considerable effect on my plan."

"Mal," Jayne said, "if it's yer plan I think we're already in trouble."

"Shut it!" Mal barked before turning to face Simon and asked, "Doctor?"

"Do you really need to know?" Simon began turning red.

Zoe spoke gently but forcefully on Mal's behalf, "Simon, remember that little talk we had?"

Simon took a deep breath, squeezed Kaylee's hand for moral support, and explained, "My memories of the effects are incomplete, as I was unconscious for part of the duration. What I do remember is very vague, feeling more like a dream. The drug enhanced my psychic abilities as expected, but it was exceedingly difficult to control. When I finally managed to isolate one voice… or uh… one mind I guess, Kaylee's mind, her thoughts seemed to override my own. I'm not sure how much control I had over myself at that moment. Kaylee was, for all intents and purposes, living vicariously through me."

"Great," Jayne snorted, "so he can lose control and not remember half of it. Good plan."

"If I can get him to tell me what we need to know, I can remember for him," Inara offered.

"Right," Mal said, reluctantly acknowledging her, "Now tell me more about those side effects, Doctor, we need to take them into account as well."

"Well, the blurry vision is certainly an issue," Simon admitted, "I had trouble recognizing Kaylee from three feet away. However I don't think the side effects became an issue until the psychic enhancements wore off."

"Are you sure?" Mal asked, "We can't have these kind of mistakes. And what about the other one, is it gonna be an issue?"

"No, and No I think," Simon answered, "As I said, the memory is hazy but I don't recall having blurry vision while I was, for lack of a better word, channeling Kaylee. However, Kaylee…um… discovered the other symptom while I was still unconscious," Simon said embarrassedly before concluding hastily, "losing myself to another's personality is my primary concern and I have prepared emergency sedatives to be deployed in such an case."

"I don't like it," Mal said, "but I don't see us havin' much a choice. Okay, let's talk contingencies."

"I've identified three abandoned maintenance access ways here, here and here" Zoe said as she pointed to their relative locations on the blueprints, "Before we could get additional personnel in through, their seals would have to be broken. Won't be very quiet."

"So we go through 'em and make a lot of noise, maybe start a fire. Then we can just park _Serenity_ up front and pretend we're like we's paramedics, like on ariel," Jayne suggested.

"_Serenity _is a Medship Conversion 03-model Firefly," Zoe offered, "it could work, sir."

"It might work, but not for very long," Mal said, "and likely only once. Fireflies ain't been used as medships since the war. We save that option as a last resort."

"The Ball is the least of our worries," Simon stated darkly as he slumped in his chair, "the hard part stealing the prototype. We don't know where it is so we can't plan for it."

"Cheer up, sweetie," Kaylee comforted has she gave Simon's shoulders a reassuring squeeze, "you ain't got to steal it all on your own."

"I don't?" Simon asked in confusion.

"Ya don't," Mal confirmed, "Just get me a location and you can leave the stealin' to us petty thieves. 'Til we get a location our job is to be invisible and mobile."

"I can go with Simon and Inara to the hotel," Kaylee offered, "set up a lil' command post and relay info so's they ain't got to risk exposure at the fancy shindig."

"She just doesn't want septic duty," River accused.

"Also, they may need help with all them fancy spy gadgets," Kaylee said, eagerly building her case.

"Mei mei," Mal said sympathetically, "I know you want to see that fancy party but we can't risk that kind of exposure."

"We could take her to our room, as our maidservant," Simon offered tentatively, "My parents took staff with them to these kind of events all the time and the help was never closely scrutinized. She would not look nearly as out of place as she would at the-" Simon cut himself off with a wince, silently cursing his word choices.

Kaylee abruptly released Simon and asked pointedly, "At the what Simon?"

"At… what I mean is…"

"Am I even pretty enough? Am I too fat?"

"Well I think so-"

"You think I'm too fat?"

"I…wha?" Simon stammered.

"It's okay, my brother likes bigger girls," River offered.

"Not helping River…" Simon said threateningly.

"Five platinum says Simon sleeps on the fancy hotel couch tonight," Mal challenged Zoe, Simon and Kaylee's spat making him feel oddly cheerful.

Zoe studied the young couple's argument for a moment before turning to Mal and wagering, "fifteen says their ruttin' before midnight."

"You're on," Mal answers before turning his attention back towards the argument.

"Ya got no reason bein' so proud o' yer sophistication," Kaylee spat acidly, "I seen _you_ out in the Rim and _you're_ helpless!"

Simon shoulders slumped, defeated as he said, "Kaylee I'm sorry… I really didn't mean…"

"Dammit," Mal muttered as he fished inside his pocket and pulled out fifteen platinum.

"What ya payin' up fer?" Jayne asked, "Look's to me she's hatin' him pretty good."

"Yeah an' then she had to go and hurt his feelings," Mal complained.

"So what?" Jayne retorted.

"Simon's gonna leave this room like a wounded puppy dog," Zoe answered, "he'll think he's hiding it but she'll see it. How long have you known our lil' Kaylee to leave alone anyone who's sufferin'?"

"You knew this was going to happen," Mal accused.

"I've been married," Zoe explained with the ghost of a smile, "ya begin to recognize the patterns."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_Simon Tam strode confidently to the open bar at the Sapphire Ball. He was dressed in the finest tuxedo money could buy, interlaced with the most advanced gadgets ever invented._

_The bartender, a 6 ft 4in balding mass of muscle, sized Simon up, as if assessing a serious threat before asking, "What can I get you?"_

"_Information," Simon Tam smoothly replied, "As I understand it, there is a fascinating device being presented at a private party. You're going to tell me where that is."_

"_I don't want no trouble," the bartender hastily answered, "I don't know where it is, but I can send over a man who does."_

"_See that you do," Simon responded coolly, "and I'll have a vodka martini, shaken not stirred while I am waiting."_

"_Yes sir, right away sir!" the bartender stammered, serving Simon's drink and cowering away._

_As soon as the bartender retreated, four armed thugs took up positions surrounding Simon. The lead thug, who was wearing an eye patch, grabbed Simon's shoulder and roughly spun him around. He threatened Simon in a thick Russian accent, "You have been asking an awful lot of questions. Why don't we speak somewhere more private?"_

"_I have a proposition for you," Simon boldly countered, "You tell me what I need to know, and I'll let you live."_

_The thug tried to draw his weapon, but Simon was faster, grabbing the thug by his shoulders and slamming his head into the bar._

_Two of the other thugs drew large combat knives and attacked Simon from opposite directions. Simon deftly dodged the thug on his right, causing him to inadvertently stab his partner to Simon's left. Before the right thug could recover, Simon causally slipped a miniature injector gun out of his left sleeve and sedated the thug while he grabbed his martini in his right hand and took a drink. _

_The final thug had extensive martial arts training, expertly matching Simon blow for blow as they engaged in intensive hand to hand combat. The thug landed a particularly solid blow on Simon's abdomen and he fell back against the bar. _

_The thug drew a switchblade and charged, aiming to end Simon's life before the young man could recover. At the last moment, Simon reached for a larger pitcher and brought it crashing over the would-be assassin's head. _

"_Crouching tiger, meet my hidden flagon," Simon remarked nonchalantly._

"_Stay where you are or the girl gets it!" threatened one eye as he held a gun to a beautiful and terrified woman wearing mechanic's coveralls tied off at the waist and a flower tank top._

"_Alright, I surrender," Simon said as he slowly raised his hands, "do with me what you want but let the woman go."_

"_You really are foolish, aren't you," One Eye said as he took his weapon off his hostage and fired it at Simon._

_Simon sprang into action. Anticipating the thugs aim, Simon dodged to the left as he charged. The thug's bullet grazed Simon's shoulder and shattered his forgotten martini. Before One Eye could fire another shot Simon slugged him in his remaining eye._

_Simon then wrapped his left arm around the beautiful mechanic and kissed her deeply as the bar exploded behind them. _

_Their lips parted for air and she said, "I've never met a man quite like you before. My name is Kaylee Frye, what's your's?"_

"_Tam," Simon answered as he dramatically fired a magnetic grappler from his cane into the ceiling and pulled them both to the balcony on the second floor, "Simon Tam." _

"Simon Tam, wake up!" Kaylee shouted as she entered their hotel bedroom.

"Huh? What?" Simon replied groggily as he struggled to sit up on the bed and bring the world into focus.

"Inara, he fell asleep again," Kaylee called over her shoulder as she approached Simon. "You want some caf? Or maybe you should just give yourself a stimulant," Kaylee suggested as she helped him dress for the Ball.

"I'll be fine, Kaylee," Simon assured her, "really, I think it's…" Simon was forced to interrupt himself with a yawn, "I think it's just stress."

"Maybe if you let him sleep more during the night," Inara teased as she entered their room. Her complicated gown was glamorous while flirting dangerously close to the edge of tacky. Kaylee thought it was the shiniest dress she had ever seen but Simon recognized its true purpose, to draw attention away from himself, and was thankful.

"There we are," Kaylee said approvingly as they finished dressing Simon, "an' don't forget your shiny cane!"

"Wait, before we go," Simon asked, "may I speak to River?"

Kaylee giggled and asked Inara, "Ain't it supposed to be our job to make us late? Bet you've never had to wait on a date before, have ya 'Nara?"

"It happens more often than you may think, mei mei," Inara said, "Go ahead and make your call, Simon, and I'll make you some tea."

* * *

"Ms. Wu, you have a priority wave bearing the Parliament Seal," the _Golden Lotus's _captain informed Lien.

"Transfer it to my quarters, I will take it there."

A few minutes later, Lien sat at her private cortex terminal and answered the wave. Her screen was showing two well dressed middle aged gentlemen wearing blue gloves for some reason.

"Greetings," Lien said, "what can the Wu family do for the Parliament today?"

"As we understand it, you will be attending the Sapphire Ball in your father's stead. There will be a private meeting among the Alliance's scientific and economic leaders, and the Wu family has been invited to send a representative. We believe you will find what is presented to be of particular interest."

"I am honored, and humbly accept the invitation on my family's behalf. May I ask why, exactly, I am apt to find this interesting?"

"It could be the solution to tracking down your wayward fiancé as well as his sister, River Tam."

* * *

"I'll be fine, just be careful ge ge," River told Simon over the wave. She asked, "May I speak to Inara?"

"Um, sure," Simon replied awkwardly, "just a moment."

River watched as Simon's image left the view screen and began to worry about her older brother. Something was going to happen, possibly something bad, and River could not determine what that was. She received these insights from time to time, but they were never very clear. All she knew for certain was that someone or something wanted to take her brother away from her and that notion more terrifying than the 'hands of blue.'

A few days ago, River thought this vision was more symbolic than dangerous and she thought the person who would take her brother away might be Kaylee. She tried her best to give the new couple their space for a while – in River's mind, no one disserved a little peace and happiness more than her heroic brother – but she began to doubt he would still remember her with Kaylee being oh so wonderful in every way. Still, she was able to take comfort in the fact that Simon was a boob and would inevitably say something stupid to make Kaylee angry at him. River realized now that her premonitions had nothing to do with Kaylee, but she still was not ready for Kaylee to become Simon's favorite girl. Simon was not ready for that either, and he would know this if he was not such a boob.

"River?" Inara asked via the cortex, "Is everything okay?"

"You have to look after my brother. She wants to take him away from me."

"Maybe I should get Si-"

"No!" River interrupted and then continued dejectedly, "has enough to worry about."

"Okay," Inara said tentatively, "who wants to take Simon away?"

"Betrothed."

Inara relaxed visibly and let out a small chuckle before saying, "Simon loves you very much and we would never forget about you. You will always be his mei mei and he would do anything to help you. Even Kaylee could not take that away from you, not that she would try."

"You're right," River said, somewhat relieved, "but can you please keep an eye on him? He takes so much looking after."

"Of course dear," Inara assured her, "Now, if that is all you need, we have a Ball to attend."

"That's all, thank you Inara." River was still scared that someone _not _Kaylee was trying to take Simon away from her, but Inara was right. River just needed to have more faith in her brother. _After all, Simon's never let me down in the past._

* * *

"Dr. Galen Sushruta and Companion Inara Serra," the herald announced as Simon and Inara entered the ballroom.

A barrier materialized, preventing Simon from entering and Inara had to react quickly to cover for Simon's rising panic. She squeezed his arm gently and explained to one of the security staff, "The good doctor is recovering from a leg injury. I believe his cane set the device off. I you could just-"

The security guarded nodded and smiled lustfully at Inara as he took Simon's cane through the barrier with his override before motioning them to walk through once more.

Fortunately, Simon recovered quickly and made a show of laboring through the barrier unassisted before taking his companion's arm for 'needed' support.

"Thank you so very much," Inara told the security guard as she accepted the cane.

"You are quite welcome Ms. Serra. Enjoy the Ball."

Soon as they were out of sight of the staff and guest near the entrance, Inara leaned in close to Simon and asked, "Are you alright?"

Simon flinched, as if his mind had just returned from elsewhere and answered, "I am fine, thank you. I was not really that injured, I was putting on a bit of a show."

"Of course Doctor," Inara teased before asking, "How would you like to proceed?"

"The drugs may not last very long, so I would prefer to wait until all guests are likely to be here. Once the guests have arrived, I will need an excuse to move about the crowd quickly until I can get a read on someone who knows what we need to know. Now that I have a little experience with the drug, I am hoping I will have more control over abilities."

"Fortunately, this is a ball and there will be dancing," Inara said, "which should offer us a socially acceptable means of moving about the area."

"Yes," Simon agreed, "a rotary dance such as a Viennese Waltz would be preferable as it would allow us full motion throughout the ballroom without putting too much stress on my leg."

"Why Doctor, I never took you for a serious dancer."

Simon blushed and shrugged, replying," Someone had to help River practice."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Ms. Lien Wu," the herald announced as another guest arrived.

Inara felt Simon's tension on her arm. "Is something wrong Doctor?" she asked.

"Maybe… I know that name. But uh, lots of people have that name right? I mean what are the odds…"

"Better for you, considering you aren't the captain," Inara jested. "Perhaps we should proceed now? If we are fortunate, you'll get the information we need on our first try. Then we can leave without finding out just who this woman may or may not be."

Simon sipped his champagne and swallowed uncomfortably. He placed his cane against a nearby column and followed Inara to the dance floor where they assumed the Promenade position.

"Are you ready?" Inara asked him. Simon's hold was confident but his eyes betrayed his insecurity. He nodded meekly and Inara gave his arm a reassuring squeeze while pressing the button that would administer his injection.

Simon closed his eyes and clung to her uncomfortably tightly within their dancer's hold.

Inara took a deep breath and initiated the dance, praying that the good doctor would regain his control soon.

* * *

Lien Wu's heart caught in her throat when she saw Simon Tam in the arms of a beautiful woman. _Calm down,_ Lien thought to herself, _that would be the companion, Inara Serra._ It was common for wealthy men, married and single alike, to engage a registered companion from time to time, but Inara's presence was making it difficult for Lien to remain objective. If the proposed new technology really was capable finding Simon and River Tam, this could be Lien's last chance to capture Simon Tam and save him from himself.

Lien's perceptive eye observed Simon's gait and she realized he was injured and appeared very uncomfortable. Lien shuddered to think of what living in the out in the Black and the barbaric border planets may have done to Simon's psyche. She could only imagine how advanced his psychosis must be. _I'm sorry I failed you, bao bei, but things will be different this time._

Lien's mind wandered back in time, almost three years ago, when she tried and failed to save Simon from his self destructive psychosis…

"_I swear, father, even with River away at the Academy, Simon barely notices me," Lien complained with more than a hint of jealousy. "I don't know why he worries about her so much. She's getting the best education the Alliance has to offer. Is she really hurting like Simon seems to believe?"_

"_River is…special… and so it Simon for that matter," Lien's father explained sympathetically. "That boy has helped take care of her for a long time, but now River needs specialized attention from those who truly understand her…gifts. Simon has made a heroic effort in caring for his sister but he's having trouble letting go of that responsibility. It's not a character flaw; it is just in his nature to care for others._

"_I have spoken to his parents and we have agreed that, as noble as his obsession may have been in origin, it is unhealthy. What Simon needs is a healthy relationship with an adult woman to stabilize his life and move beyond this psychosis."_

"_Believe me, I have been trying," Lien sighed in exasperation._

_Her father smiled, "I have noticed, and so have the Tams. His parents and I have reached an agreement. The two of you are to be wed."_

"_You mean…Simon and I…that is to say…we're… betrothed?" Lien stammered excitedly._

"_That is correct," her father said. "In truth, we have been planning this for quite some time. However, with Simon becoming increasingly unstable, we thought it best to advance the time table. I suspect the wedding will still be a couple years or so in the future, but perhaps the engagement will provide a measure of stability to his troubled life."_

_Unfortunately the engagement did not provide him with the stability he needed. Simon became distant to his friends, his colleagues, even his own family. One day Simon came back sporting a black eye and told her he tried to visit a black out zone. She did her best to comfort and console him. She could clearly see he felt his family had betrayed him. He pleaded with Lien to help him find his sister, but Lien told him he needed to drop this obsession for his own good and let her help him. _

That was the last time Lien had spoken to Simon. He disappeared for a time and then warrants for his arrest began appearing on the cortex. She realized now that she had abandoned him just like his parents. Next time Lien would not let him run away. She would force him to face his psychosis and they would do what was right for River and each other. Lien knew if River were returned to the Alliance's care they would lose interest in Simon and Lien had the resources shelter him until they did. Lien's father eagerly agreed to her plan of action and was not opposed to sheltering Simon from the Alliance as he believed Simon was 'too valuable a resource' to be wasted in an Alliance prison.

* * *

"River?" Mal called as he entered the hallway to the passenger dorms. "Lil' Albatross, you missed supper. I brought some for ya. River?"

Mal heard a soft whimper coming from Simon's room. He gently opened the door to find her curled into a ball, wearing one of Simon's vests on his bed and clutching his pillow to her chest. "Um… River… you okay darlin'?" Mal asked tentatively as he tried to remember now the Doc responded to something like this.

"Not his. Shouldn't have them," River said between sobs.

"Yeah, I don't like his vest much either."

"He knows it isn't safe and he wears it anyway."

"I know, right. Them fancy dud's is 'prolly the reason he keeps gettin' snatched."

"They want to take him away."

Mal grabbed River by her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Ain't no one taken 'way anyone's on my crew. Not even your brother."

"Broken."

"Huh?" Mal glanced down and noticed several button's missing from Simon's vest and laughed, "No power in the verse can stop lil' Kaylee. His fancy dud's didn't stand a chance."

"Kaylee can fix anything, right Captain Daddy?"

Mal coughed uncomfortably before reassuring her, "Of course she can, though I believe sewing's a mite more in line with your brother's skill set."

"What if she doesn't want to?" River asked nervously.

Mal began to suspect he really did not know what this conversation was about. He answered carefully, "Um, why wouldn't she want to?"

"Hurt. Betrayed. Heartbroken."

"What did that sah gwa brother of yours do this time?"

"Nothing yet. That's the problem."

"Oh, he's doing that again. I thought we were past that, what with the engagement and all. Don't worry little one, she's always taken him back before."

* * *

A turbulent flood of thoughts and emotions assaulted Simon's consciousness. He instinctively shut his eyes against the tide and clung to Inara desperately, as if she were the physical embodiment of what remained of his sanity. Slowly they began moving in the familiar pattern of a Viennese Waltz.

_One two three one two three_… The repetitive nature of the dance acted as a physical mantra, slowly stabilizing and focusing his mind.

Simon tentatively opened his eyes and gazed into Inara's concerned psyche. The companion's mind was well guarded. Simon found he could not glean anything more than the gentle heartfelt concern she seemed to consciously project in his direction, which made him feel like he was the center of her world. Part of his mind came to the conclusion that his had something to do with the companion's training, but that knowledge did not diminish the fact that it was tremendously soothing.

Simon smiled at her before flinching and remembering why they were dancing. He gradually relaxed his focus on Inara's and allowed the surface thoughts in the area to filter in to his awareness.

_The Miranda wave was preposterous Independent proganda._

_ Blue Sun shares have plummeted over the past few months._

_ I wonder what this secret meeting is all about?_

Simon tried so speak but was unable to manage more than a simple "unh."

Fortunately, Inara was fluent in 'Simon' in all its awkward dialects and flawlessly interpreted his request. She guided him in the direction that he seemed to indicate and waited patiently as his facial expression tensed in apparent concentration.

After a few moments Simon opened his eyes and said, "Inara, I know where the secret meeting is."

"Simon?" a familiar female voice sounded behind him.

"You must be mistaken, this Dr. Galen Sus-" Inara began covering for him.

"Lien?" Simon interrupted Inara and addressed the woman carelessly. He felt a foreign sense of longing wash over him that was making it difficult to maintain both his mental and physical balance. He nearly stumbled when he sensed Inara mentally voicing her exasperation, _fuck me sideways going up a hill._

"Don't worry Dr. Sushruta," Lien said with a wink, "Your secret is safe with me."

"I…um… Lien… could you excuse us for just a moment?" Simon requested.

With her assent he walked a few paces away and whispered to Inara, "The meet is in a two hours and the crew needs as much time as we can afford them to plan." Simon took a labored breath and continued, "But we can't draw attention to ourselves before this is over."

"Agreed, tell me what you know quickly and I'll inform Kaylee."

Simon gave Inara the time and location.

Inara kissed him on the cheek and said, "be careful and use the signal ring if there is an emergency. I'll return shortly."

Simon fought his rising panic as Inara departed. Waves of foreign thoughts and emotions buffeted him mercilessly once more. He quickly found a familiar mind and focused on its signal to grant himself a small measure of stability. The overwhelming sense of longing and jealousy was not as soothing as Inara's aura, but it did effectively drown out the other thoughts around him."Lien," Simon began, "I uh… I suppose we have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

"Inara, you're back early," Kaylee greeted cheerfully as Inara entered their hotel room. When she realized Inara had come back alone she became worried and asked, "Where's Simon?"

"He couldn't leave the Ball" Inara began before being interrupted by Kaylee's gasp. "He's okay mei mei," she reassured her, "and I'm going back for him, but I need you to deliver this message to Mal."

* * *

"Jayne and Zoe, gear up but subtle like." Mal ordered. "River, will you be alright watching the ship on your own?" he asked concernedly.

"She will be where she is needed," River deadpanned, leaving Mal less than reassured.

"Good, cause you're needed on my boat. Dong mah?"

River hugged her knees into her chest and nodded. Mal found himself wishing his crew was two members larger.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Before Inara returned to the Ball, she borrowed a few of the 'gadgets', built by Kaylee or smuggled via rice and Mal, and carefully integrated them into her complicated outfit. The last item she added was a tiny earpiece, which she effectively concealed with a slight change in hairstyle. Once satisfied with her appearance, Inara asked Kaylee to inform her as soon as the job was over as she left to rejoin Simon.

* * *

"Simon, where have you been? Are you okay? What's happened to you?" Lien asked.

Simon's stance wavered under the emotional barrage. Lien's thoughts were coming dangerously close to overriding his own, much as Kaylee's had in the engine room. Simon prayed Inara would return soon. Her closely guarded consciousness was not a danger to his own. "Lien," Simon began tentatively, "I… we should sit down."

"Of course dear, let me help you," Lien said as she took his arm and led him to a nearby table.

Simon gingerly took a seat and attempted to fortify his mind against the next wave of interactions, only to find the feeble walls collapsing as he noticed that Lien was wearing the engagement ring he had given her almost three years ago. "You… still… the ring… wearing…" Simon stammered.

"Why of course, dearest, we are engaged," Lien answered with a smile.

Her emotions ran unchecked across Simon's meager defenses and he found himself smiling stupidly back at her with longing that was not his own. "I… we…" Simon began.

Lien giggled, "Simple Simon. Some things never change. Let's take this conversation somewhere more private. I have a suite nearby…"

Simon lost the rest of what she said when the image of two suited men wearing blue gloves flashed across his mind. _It could be the solution to tracking down your wayward fiancé as well as his sister, River Tam. _

Simon shook his head as if to clear it. "Yes, of course. We should take this conversation to your suite," Simon agreed.

Simon may have been the easiest mark the 'verse has ever known, but he had no illusions concerning the safety of this plan of action. He was scared. He was afraid it was a trap, afraid he would not be able to call for help, afraid of Kaylee's reaction to him entering the room of his former fiancé (or evening having one for that matter), afraid he would lose control to the drugs in said room and do something he truly regretted, but most of all he was afraid of what would happen to his sister if the Alliance found her. In the end, his greatest fear would finalize his decision. Lien knew something about the Alliance's device that Simon needed to find, and Simon would do anything to protect his sister.

* * *

Inara entered the Sapphire Ball for the second time that night and began searching the crowd for Simon. When she did not spot him immediately she took it as a good sign. It would be better for the fugitive doctor to blend in.

After an hour's subtle searching revealed no trace of the good doctor, Inara became worried. She approached the security guard near the entrance and asked him if he had seen 'Dr. Sushruta.'

"Sorry ma'am, but your date left you for a tall sino woman. My shift ends in thirty minutes though, if you would like some company," the guard said with a lecherous grin.

"If you desire the company of a registered companion you may make an appointment with the local guild liaison," Inara responded curtly before exiting the building and hurrying back to her hotel.

* * *

Mal, Jayne and Zoe stealthily crept through the dark abandoned parking garage. Mal was no expert on secret government meetings, but he thought it mighty peculiar for a meeting this secret to be held in a place like this. It was a security nightmare, but then again, Mal figured most core folk lived like good little sheep that would never wander past those pretty yellow and black striped ribbons at the entrance.

Zoe motioned for them to stop. Her hand signals informed him of two sentries thirty feet ahead. Mal nodded his assent for Jayne and Zoe to advance and silently take them out.

With near perfect synchronization, Zoe and Jayne covered the sentries' mouths and wrapped them in a sleeper's hold. Eight seconds later both guards were sleeping peacefully while Zoe scouted ahead and Jayne relieved them of their weapons and their wallets.

Zoe halted just outside of a dimly lit circle of vehicles and motioned for the others to join her. Mal and Jayne caught up to her and they surveyed the area.

There were seven gentlemen present, all dressed in the typical formal core style and gathered around a remarkably well maintained older model luxury mule. When one of the gentlemen pulled a briefcase out of the back of the mule, Mal gave the signal and the three leapt into action.

"Raise your hands and commence starin' intently like towards yer belly buttons," Mal shouted as they emerged from concealment with weapons drawn.

"It's the Feds, run!" One of the suits shouted before they all panicked and ran.

"The Feds?" Mal repeated dumbly.

"Buddha's blue balls! Mal we gotta get the hell outta here," Jayne yelled.

"Jayne! What did I tell you about yellin' my name during a heist, and do you see any Feds?"

"I sure as hell ain't waitin' till I do!"

Zoe rolled her eyes and retrieved the abandoned briefcase. "Jayne, we're the Feds," she said.

"When was that in the plan?" Jayne asked.

"It wasn't," Mal replied shortly.

"'Prolly why it worked," Jayne muttered under his breath.

"Alright Zoe, open it up. Let's see what this newfangled government tech looks like."

"Um… Sir?" Zoe responded hesitantly, "You might want to take a look at this."

"What is it Zo… Gaoyang zhong de guyang" Mal exclaimed when he looked into the briefcase that contained a datastick and thirty individually wrapped fruity oaty bars.

* * *

"Captain, you're back alre-" Kaylee began answering his wave.

"That hwoon dahn Doctor sent us to the gorram wrong secret meet!" Mal shouted angrily into the unit, "He's gonna need to try again!"

"Captain it weren't his fault," Kaylee defended him, "an' what do ya mean the wrong secret meeting?"

"We stole the secret formula to a new flavor of fruity oaty bars, which by the way is neither 'fruity' nor 'oaty'."

"How come-" Kaylee cut herself off when she heard someone entering their hotel room. "Hold on, I think they're back," Kaylee said as she rose to check the door.

"Kaylee, I need to speak with Mal immediately," Inara said as she ran into the room.

"He's on the wave right now," Kaylee told her as she followed Inara to the com station. She asked anxiously, "Where's Simon?"

Inara took a deep breath and stared into Mal's image over the wave and said, "Simon's missing."

Kaylee gasped and River wailed from somewhere outside of the visual feed.

Mal leaned in closer to the device so he could speak and hear over the commotion behind him and said, "Inara, I need to know everything you know."

Inara could not find her voice. All she could hear was River's wailing in the background.

"She doesn't really love him," River screamed, "and she'll take him from me. Then they'll take him away forever. Two by two, hands of blue, two by two…"

"Inara… Inara?... Inara!" Mal shouted through the wave. "We'll get him back, Inara, but I need you to focus! When did you see him last?"

"I… we had just finished dancing and… and he said he found the secret meeting…"

"Good… good Inara, you're doin' great," Mal soothed, "now what happened next."

"We… we were about to leave when someone recognized him… but, she said his secret was safe, and… Simon has the signal ring!" Inara stammered.

"Calm down darlin' no one's blaming you," Mal soothed.

"Who was it?" Kaylee asked nervously.

"Huh?" Inara asked dazed.

"Who was it recognized Simon?"

"Her name was Lien Wu. She's of sino ancestry, she had long black hair and she was almost as large as Zoe. They seemed to know each other very well… perhaps a family acquaintance or a classmate?" Inara supplied. "I thought he would be fine. I was going to be right back…" Inara shook her head as if to clear it spoke confidently in a manner more characteristic of a companion, "The security guard saw them leaving together. She may have captured him."

"Good job Inara," Mal said and then ordered over his shoulder, "Zoe, see if you what you can find of this Lien Wu on the cortex, get River to help if you can." Mal turned attention back to the screen and said, "Kaylee… Inara… I need you to work on trackin' Simon through them gizmos."

"The ring only sends a signal if it's activated Cap'n," Kaylee said dejectedly.

"Then keep an eye out for that signal while you try somethin' else," Mal comforted, "It's a good sign, mei mei, it probably means he ain't felt need to use it yet. Just don't go runnin' in all foolish like when you find him. You tell me and I bring the cavalry, dong mah?"

"Yes cap'n. Just… look after River okay?"

* * *

"Take a seat anywhere Simon, I'll be right with you," Lien said as she opened to door to her suite.

Simon entered awkwardly, occasionally waving his cane in front of him in as subtle a way as he could manage. The psychic enhancements had finally worn off and he began suffering what he assumed were either delayed side effects or perhaps symptoms of withdrawal. As a result his vision became very blurry and his libido spiked. _A dangerous combination if I were Jayne,_ Simon thought with a small amount of amusement.

Lien gently grabbed Simon's arm and he jumped at the physical contact. "Simon… what's wrong?" Lien asked, "Are you… have you become blind?"

Simon's mind raced to find a suitable answer but its progress was halted by the physical contact that sent a surge of blood into an organ towards the lower end of his body. _Focus Simon, Focus. Just like with Zoe and the Jeweler. _"It's temporary," Simon explained, "as you've already noticed, I have been injured and… and it's temporary. I just can't do anything about it when I'm away from my medkit," Simon laughed nervously. "I'm not blind, I have near perfect vision for the next three feet."

"My poor simple Simon," Lien cooed as she led Simon to the love seat, her voice making his skin crawl. Simon gingerly took a seat and flinched when Lien sat down beside him. "It's okay dearest," Lien said soothingly as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. Simon made a small choking noise as he was pressed against the curves of her flawless athletic body. She continued, "You're safe here. No one is going to harm you."

Simon closed his eyes tightly and fought focus his mind against his raging libido. _Focus Simon, Focus._ _I will apply dietic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice…_

"Simon, are you okay?" Lien asked. "Talk to me. What have those awful border planets done to you?"

_Talking. Talking is good._ "I uh…" Simon stammered, having no clue as to what he was going to say. He recovered quickly and asked, "Could you be so kind as to get me a glass of water?"

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry I forgot to offer refreshments, how rude of me," Lien apologized as she rose and walked towards the kitchen.

Simon let out a sigh of relief and seriously considered pressing the panic button on his signal ring. Before Lien could return to him, Simon heard a knock on her door and smiled at his good fortune. "I'll get that Simon, you just stay seated," Lien called out to him. Simon was relieved to have gained a few extra moments of relative solitude. The relief, however, was borne of ignorance. He would be much less thankful had his vision been clear enough to identify the two well dressed gentleman wearing blue gloves just outside of the doorway.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Alright Zoe, what ya got?" Mal asked as a joined her, River and Jayne around the cortex terminal.

"Lien Wu, twenty eight years old, five foot ten, 150 lbs, black hair, and grey eyes. Comes from a prominent family who's research and development teams have been contracted by Blue Sun and the Alliance for generations, specifically in the fields of biochemistry and genetics-"

"Friend of the family," River interrupted, "but not very friendly."

"River, do you recognize her?" Mal asked.

"Changed, but not so much," River answered, "She used to play with my brother."

"Can you tell us anything else about her, sweetie?" Zoe asked.

River shook her head and said, "Don't know much. I didn't like her."

"Says here she graduated at the top of her class with a degree in technical engineering," Zoe supplied.

"That's a mite off from the family's usual line of work ain't it?" Mal remarked.

"Doesn't matter," River said, "a wealthy core woman of good breeding's job is to become married. Or a companion."

"Huh. Zoe, check and see if she's married," Mal asked, "might be his family we need to be worried about."

"Sir, her last name hasn't changed."

"Right, uh… I knew that. But uh, check anyway in case they do things different like."

"She is not married," Zoe confirmed.

"Think that's why she snatched the Doc?" Jayne offered between bites of a fruity oaty bar.

"Shenme?"

"You know, why she captured him," Jayne said as if it were obvious. He spoke again waving his oaty bar as a visual aid, "So she could snatch her up a husband."

"Jayne, that has got to be one of the stupidest things you've ever said," Mal said.

"What? Crazy said her job's to get married and the Doc's pretty good at gettin' hisself kidnapped!" Jayne argued. "Ain't like a woman's never up and married someone off a' this boat before," he muttered indignantly before taking another bite.

Mal decided not to acknowledge Jayne's existence and asked Zoe, "We're sure he hasn't been arrested?"

"If he has, they're taking great lengths to keep it quiet," Zoe confirmed.

"Then I guess we'll just have to trust that he knows what he's doin'."

_

* * *

What am I doing here?_ Simon thought to himself as he stifled a yawn and fought his exhaustion. All he wanted to do was sleep off the drugs side effects, but this was not the ideal location.

_Where is this location?_ Simon wondered. His addled mind and blurry eyes could not supply him with those details. _I knew I came here for a reason…_

Lien returned to his side with a glass of water and asked him if he was ok. Her tone of voice led Simon to believe she must have asked him that same question several times already. Simon nodded his affirmative and thanked her for the class of water while thinking, _What is Lien doing here? Am I back on Osiris?_

Simon opted for a more direct approach. He took a sip of his drink and asked her, "What's going on Lien?"

"Just two gentlemen from the parliament," Lien informed, "They wanted to come inside but I told them I had a guest so they gave me this documentation related to a meeting or something my family is invited to send a couple of representatives too and then they left. They were strange people, and they wore blue gloves for some reason."

"River!" Simon shouted, "Is River okay?" Simon stood quickly and frantically look around the room, despite the fact that he could barely see three feet in front of him.

Lien grabbed his arm and said irritably, "How should I know Simon? I'm not the one hiding her."

Simon turned and grabbed her roughly by her arm and asked, "What did you tell them? How much do they know?"

"Simon, you're delirious and you need help. Let me help you move beyond this paranoid psychosis-"

"What have you told them?" Simon repeated threateningly.

"Simon, let go of me," Lien warned.

"You don't want to tell me? Fine!" Simon shouted as he released her and reached for the trigger that would administer another psychic boosting injection.

Lien interpreted Simon's actions as being more offensive, as though he was drawing a weapon. She caught his wrist with a high kick and shoved him into the wall before he could recover.

Before Simon could process what just happened or even grasp his injured wrist, Lien's forearm was at his throat, nearly crushing his larynx as she pinned him against the wall. Struggling to breathe, Simon barely managed to activate his signal ring before he lost his fight with unconsciousness.

* * *

"Inara, Simon's signal!" Kaylee exclaimed, excited and worried. While she was relieved to know Simon was still alive, she was concerned he felt the need to use the emergency signal.

"Good job, mei mei, work on finding his location while I contact Mal," Inara said and left to use the cortex terminal.

_Weren't me did the 'good job'_ Kaylee thought as she narrowed the list of possible locations. "Got it," she said to herself and left to join Inara and the wave.

"Whatcha got lil' Kaylee?" Mal greeted her through the wave.

"Simon's location, it's near here so you should come here first," Kaylee answered.

"Why don't ya just tell us where, and we'll get 'im," Mal suggested a hint of irritation, "I promise we'll bring 'im right back."

"You're gonna need me to get in there anyways and you don't have time to argue," Kaylee said firmly, "I'll let you know where he is when you get here. 'Sides, it could change and I'm the one who'd notice."

"Fine!" Mal exclaimed irritably, "Me an' Zoe will meet you outside in twenty minutes. We're gonna have words concernin' this later!" Mal broke the connection while muttering something about shipboard romances.

* * *

Thirty Minutes later Mal, Zoe and Kaylee climbed out of the Hovermule just outside of a rear hotel service access way. Kaylee handed Mal a device and said, "Let me know if that dot starts movin' ok?" before crouching down to examine the door's electronic locks.

"Huh. Seems an awful fancy place for a kidnappin'," Mal remarked as he scanned the area for unwanted attention.

"An' just what's that supposed to mean 'Captain'?" Kaylee asked, again enunciated the word with severely undisguised irritation.

"Oh nothin' really, just don't understand them core types is all. Seem's to me there'd be better cheaper places to keep a captive, if that was their intention," Mal commented.

"Well, his signal is coming from here so he's gotta be in here," Kaylee said. She popped open the access panel and said thoughtfully, "Well, we can open it the fast way or the safer way."

"Safe-er, not safe?" Zoe asked.

"Well, I dunno how safe it'll be, I've never done this to a core building before…"

"What's the fast way?" Mal asked her.

"I try out one of my inventions," Kaylee said with a smile. She reached into her tool kit and pulled out what appeared to be a wallet with an Ident card sticking partways out. "It's basically an electronic 'bump' key," she explained, "It keeps the processor bogged down with multiple queries so it can't effect security protocols while it also dials in every access code possibility until one of them opens it up! Well, at least in theory…"

"Huh?" Mal and Zoe asked in unison.

"Ummm… okay, ya know how if you tell Jayne a bunch of stuff an' he's distracted he'll just agree to it?" Kaylee asked. Mal and Zoe nodded their affirmative and Kaylee continued, "Well, that's what this is supposed to do to the door."

"Alright Kaylee, let's try out your little toy," Mal said.

Eighteen seconds later, the door silently opened and the three slipped in unnoticed.

* * *

"I still don't understand why I'm the one's gotta do the babysitting," Jayne complained sourly in _Serenity's _Galley.

"Who said you're the one babysitting," River countered.

"I'm the one's in ruttin' command aren't I?"

"Are you?"

"Don't go playin' your brain tricks on me. You just stay crazy over there an' eat your cereal," Jayne ordered as he searched for Kaylee's hidden whiskey stash.

"Sleeping now, but not well. No one's around to chase away the nightmares. Hands of blue have come and gone so now the room is empty," River rambled for a time before staring straight at Jayne and stating, "I know where it is."

Jayne eyed her suspiciously and asked, "Where is it?"

"What's in it for me?"

"I'll split it with ya," Jayne offered, as if he were proud of the creative solution.

"Insufficient incentive. If spirits were what I desired I would have more to gain by not telling you."

"Well what the hell do ya want?"

* * *

"This the room, mei mei?" Mal asked as they reached a door with a 'do not disturb' sign hanging on its handle.

"Signal's comin' from inside," Kaylee confirmed. She reached down to give the handle an experimental turn and was surprised to find the door unlocked.

Mal pulled Kaylee protectively behind him and motioned for Zoe to take point.

Zoe shoved the door open and swept the room with her weapon as Mal covered her from the entrance. She announced it was clear and Mal joined her as they swept the rest of the area, room by room.

After finding the last room to be empty, Zoe and Mal holstered their weapons and returned to the common room to find Kaylee sniffling over a pile of clothing and a letter. Mal crouched down beside her and wrapped a comforting arm across her shoulders and asked, "What is that, mei mei?"

"He's not here," she said dismally as she dropped the letter. Mal watched the letter fall and inspected items around it: men's formal attire, a signal ring, a gentleman's dress cane, and several small devices Mal assumed to be Kaylee's inventions. Mal picked up the fallen latter and began to read it.

_To the crew of the unidentified Firefly class transport ship on which Simon Tam was a passenger,_

_I desire to know what has brought you into the Core and what has become of River Tam. I will have you know that I am not operating under the Alliance's initiative and that my motivations are my own. You may contact me via the secure communications device I have provided and we will meet in person to discuss our business in a civilized manner. If you find that unacceptable, I can extract my answers from Simon Tam in my leisure._

_The choice is yours; however, I would suggest you contact me soon if you wish to intervene before I take matters into my own hands._

Mal crumpled the message in frustration and ordered, "Kaylee, gather up all his stuff. Zoe, contact Inara and tell her to return to the ship. We're going to have a crew meeting."

_

* * *

Kaylee had been shot. Shot by a man chasing Simon but Simon refused to help her. He left her bleeding and ran. Kaylee did not disserve to die but Simon thought he had no choice._

_Some crazy hill folk had River tied to a post and were determined to set the little witch on fire. Simon left Kaylee to die so he could save River, but there was nothing he could do. _

_Suddenly Serenity came roaring in from above and Jayne hoped out to save the day. The villagers rejoiced and raised a statue in his honor. River was safe and she was so happy. Simon ran forward to greet Kaylee who glared at him with hate filled eyes._

"_I've seen you out in the Rim and you're helpless!" Kaylee shouted, before slapping him in the face and wrapping her arms around the hero of canton._

_Mal said, "Didn't think you were man enough for Kaylee anyway."_

_Simon raised Zoe's arm cannon and fired with surgical precision. The bullet tore into the unarmed portly officer's neck flesh and separated his head from the rest of his body._

Simon woke up screaming in an unfamiliar room, confused and naked. "Just a dream," he told himself. He rose unsteadily and winced as the action placed stress on his injured wrist. "There seems to be an alarming correlation between 'psychic enhancing' drug use and personal nudity, not unlike sake," Simon muttered sarcastically as he examined his quarters.

His own clothing and possessions were nowhere to be found, but someone had been kind enough to lay a simple but elegant blue tunic, along with a pair of shoes and undergarments, aside for him. He dressed gingerly and tried to remember why he felt like he had lost another fight. Apparently his host, whoever it was, had a tailor on staff as Simon's new clothes fit better than anything he owned and, curiously, had no pockets. He decided to check the door in favor of pondering on how the tailor acquired his measurements.

They door was locked, but was opened from the outside a few moments after Simon tried it. A security guard informed him that Ms. Wu would see him in a few minutes.

"Where am I?" Simon asked the guard sheepishly.

The guard answered, "You are on the Wu Family's luxury yacht, _Golden Lotus," _and closed the door.

* * *

(I want to thank everyone who's been commenting, those really help as I write this. If it weren't for comments bringing stuff to my attentiong, things like my River writing would be incredibly lame, so I really appreciate the compliments, criticisms and suggestions please leave more! )


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Simon?" Lien called out to him as she entered his temporary residence.

"Lien, what's going on?" Simon asked her. "How did I get here, did we leave here from the ball?"

"You… you really don't remember do you?" Lien asked uncertainly, her voice hovering between concern and suspicion. She cautiously approached him, as if Simon were a dangerous animal.

"I… I came with a registered companion, is she here?"

"Why did you come to Londinum?" Lien asked him, apparently choosing suspicion.

Simon's mind scrambled for a suitable answer, another partial truth that would allow him to bluff his way past her. "I came because of some information… on my sister. I came to find it," Simon explained.

"What kind of information?" Lien pressed.

"It… it had to do with her location," Simon supplied. _It's not exactly a lie._

"So you do not know where your sister is?" Lien asked incredulously.

_Well… not exactly,_ Simon thought, but said, "No, I cannot tell you where she is."

Lien released a weary sigh and placed a hand on his shoulder. She looked at him sadly and said, "Simon, I am the only reason you are still alive and free-"

"Free?" Simon interrupted her as he shrugged her hand off of his shoulder.

"Not incarcerated, if you prefer," Lien continued irritably as she crossed her arms in front of her, "You need help, Simon, and I can't help you if you won't work with me."

"I won't betray River," Simon resolutely declared, "don't waste your breath,"

"Then let us talk about the real reason you are here," Lien countered. "Why would one of the 'verse's most wanted… travel to a core planet and attend a public spectacle?"

"I miss the parties we used to attend together," Simon responded sarcastically.

"Don't mock me," Lien warned.

"I would have called, Lien, honest, but I'm afraid you're just not a very good dancer-"

"Simon, I don't have time for this…"

"-but you know who_ is_ a great dancer? River! She's way better than you ever-"

Lien lost her temper and interrupted his speech by slugging him in the face. She then walked over to the guard and ordered, "Bind him and send him to my shuttle with a security team. It's time we paid his 'friends' a little visit."

* * *

"Our guest should be arrivin' momentarily," Mal announced to the crew. "No way o' knowin' how much they know, so yall let me do that talkin'. River, I want you hidden' and listenin' in through the com. You're our ace in the hole. Jayne, give her weapon 'fore she goes. Inara, you have no official involvement in this, so you're to stay in your shuttle unless ordered out, in which I's appreciate if you did so all huffy and indignant like. Shouldn't be hard for you."

"Mal…" Inara began.

"You may be the only one of us that can move about freely at this point and I don't wish to jeopardize that," Mal said earnestly, "Inara, I need you in your shuttle."

"What's our plan Cap'n?" Kaylee asked nervously.

"We hear 'em out," Mal said and threw up a hand to stifle any protest. He continued, "We won't sell out one of our own, but we'll hear 'em out and I'll offer them the credit line. Maybe they'll take it. If not, well, at least I'll get the chance to measure up who we're up against."

* * *

Thirty minutes later – it was approaching midnight by this point – four armed and armored security guards met Mal, Kaylee, Jayne and Zoe in _Serenity's _cargo bay. The guards kept their weapons trained on the crew, but Mal knew they were in no immediate danger. He could read it in there stances, these where well behaved guard dogs and would not blink before given a direct order. However, they were scaring little Kaylee something fierce and that was more than enough to earn the angry glare Mal shot in their direction.

After a few moments the lead guard spoke a few words into a handheld device and Mal's cargo bay door opened once more to reveal the tall aristocratic sino woman who must be Lien striding arrogantly into his ship with his doctor on her arm. Lien confidently entered the cargo bay with her head held high and her arm looped possessively around Simon's arm.

With his wrist bound, the Simon was in no position to argue, not that he appeared to have much fight left in him. In contrast to Lien's confident gait, Simon limped into the cargo bay with his shoulders slumped and hung his head in what had to be either defeat or exhaustion. His posture made him appear shorter than his captor. With great effort, Simon raised his head to meet his crewmates, revealing evidence of further physical abuse. _I guess the bastards have already begun their interrogation, _Mal thought,_ looks like he's been strangled and smacked around._

"Simon," Kaylee gasped as she ran towards him. Two guards stepped in front of her and blocked her way with weapons drawn.

"Kaylee!" Simon called out to her as he struggled awkwardly against Lien's grip before realizing the futility of his actions.

Mal cleared his throat and said, "Why don't you kids settle down a minute, let the grownups have a lil' talk."

"You're the captain, I presume?" Lien asked Mal pompously as she tightened her grip on Simon and pulled him closer to her.

_Simon, just what have you gotten yourself into? _"I am," Mal answered. "What have you done to my medic?" He asked impatiently.

"What have _you_ done to my fiancé?" Lien asked, sounding equally tetchy.

"I… what?" Mal responded. Kaylee gasped and, as was typical, Jayne was the first person to break the silence.

"See Mal, I told ya she was snatchin' her up a husband!" Jayne proclaimed triumphantly.

Mal and Zoe silenced him in unison ordering, "Shut up Jayne!"

"No…no… that can't be right," Kaylee said confusion, "I think ya got the wrong ship. Only ones here that'd know are Ri-… uh are Simon. An' Simon proposed to me 'bout a week ago."

Mal reached out to squeeze Kaylee's shoulder in an attempt to calm and quiet her before she got them all in trouble. "It's like Kaylee said," Mal spoke up confidently. "Simon's only one on this boat of like to knownin' ya."

"Is this true?" Lien asked. Mal was about to respond indignantly until he realized she was asking Simon.

Simon stood as tall and proudly as he could manage with his restraints and injuries and confirmed, "Yes" while tensing as if in anticipation of another blow.

"Simon I'm disappointed," Lien said sadly. Mal was surprised to see her visibly shaken as she continued, "I suppose it's my own fault for abandoning you in your time of need…" Just as he thought she was about to shed a tear, Lien instantly regained her composure and said resolutely, "It's not too late, Simon, I can help you. Just tell me where River is and we'll work things out. With River's return we can arrange to have the charges dropped. You can come back home and we can finally be married."

Kaylee gasped and Simon attempted to hurry to her side but was again restrained. Mal crossed his arms and said, "Doctor, there something you want to tell us?"

"I-I… yes, Lien and I were engaged but-but… I didn't think it still… I'm a fugitive…" Simon stuttered.

"You never did think much for a fugitive," Mal accused.

"An' you didn't think it was important to tell me you was already engaged?" Kaylee asked frantically. "What else haven't you told me Simon? Do you have children? Are ya engaged to anyone else?"

"Kaylee…I…"

"Doesn't matter!" Kaylee shouted as she pulled off her engagement ring and threw it at him. "Can't trust you anyhow!" she exclaimed before turning around and crying into Zoe's shoulder.

The ring hit Simon in the chest and he dropped to his knees as if the impact came from a bullet. He stared numbly as the ring hit the floor and fell between the gratings. Simon felt like a piece of his soul was lost along with it, neither reachable and nor deserving of recovery.

"Simon, get up," Lien ordered irritably, "You're embarrassing yourself."

"Like I rutting care," Simon bit back.

"Simon, language," Lien chastised.

"Can we get his over with?" Mal asked. He offered, "It may not look it but I've got access to lots in the manner of fundage. How much will it cost to get my medic back?"

"Why did you come here?" Lien asked, ignoring him. "I already know it has something to do with River's location," She said as gazed at Simon's crumpled form with a look somewhere between pity and disgust. "If you don't tell me I'll be forced to pry the answers from Simon."

Hearing River's name brought Simon's mind back into focus. _It was never about me_, Simon reminded himself, _all that matters is keeping River safe._ Simon struggled to remember everything that had happened within the past five hours. He had a feeling somewhere within his hazy drug affected memories lurked an answer to their problem.

"Eh, go ahead," Mal bluffed nonchalantly, "after what he's done to my mechanic I'm liable to hurt 'em myself."

"The meeting," Simon blurted, surprising everyone in the room with his unexpected outburst.

"Doctor…" Mal said, the implied threat to keep silent was not lost on Simon, but the young doctor continued boldly anyway.

"Lien, you have to take me too that meeting," Simon said as he stood confidently to meet her at eye level. A knowing look passed between Mal and Zoe. Jayne remained oblivious and Kaylee turned to glance at Simon, curious and worried, through her tear filled eyes.

"Simon, why do you want to attend the meeting?" Lien asked.

Simon swallowed the lump in his throat and told the biggest lie of his life, "Because you are right, Lien. It's time for me to move beyond this psychosis. The meeting is part of your life and it's time for me to be in it," he rationalized, "We'll… we'll get River the help she needs and-and," Simon took a deep breath before he continued, his speech thick with emotion, "and I'll return home, with you. Back to where we belong."

Lien smiled at Simon sweetly, as if she was proud of him. Simon hid his own revulsion and favored her with a smile of his own. _Just like when we were children_, Simon thought mirthlessly, _I could only fool her by telling her exactly what she wanted to hear_.

* * *

After being excused, Simon entered his bunk and began packing quickly. The rest of the crew were still being held at gunpoint in the cargo bay and Simon did not think his escorts would allow him much time on his own, even with _Serenity _surrounded. He quickly stowed every small Kaylee gadget he could find in the bottom of his bag, concealed behind layers of clothing and undergarments. He was just about to store a miniature injector gun when he heard quiet footsteps enter his room from behind him. Simon palmed the miniaturized device and turned to face River.

"Mei mei, what are you doing here?" Simon whispered, "It's not safe, you have to-"

"Don't go," River interrupted him, sobbing, "don't leave me. I love you, and so does Kaylee. She'll understand later so you can't leave us."

"River, I love you too but…It's the only way. The only way to keep you safe. As for Kaylee, I don't think she'll ever…" Simon lost his voice before he could complete the sentence. He shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. All I want is for you to be safe. Please go back to your hiding place. The bad men will be gone soon."

"I won't let you leave-"

Simon reacted quickly before he had time to contemplate his actions and give his sister the opportunity to read them. He wrapped her in a fierce embrace and pulled the trigger on the injector gun, administering a sedative that would knock River out for the next four hours.

"I'm sorry, mei mei," he cried softly as she sagged in his embrace.

"Such…a…boob…" River muttered before finally collapsing in his arms.

Simon knew he didn't have much time, but he could not just betray to two most important women in his life and walk away without an explanation. Simon gently tucked River into his bed, kissed her forehead, and began recording his message.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the remaining crew of _Serenity_ gathered in Simon's room around River's sleeping form and listened to Simon's message…

"_Mei mei, I love you, and I'm so sorry I had to put you to sleep but I couldn't let you stop me. I love you and Kaylee both and it pains me to think that what may be my last moments with you all were spent causing you pain… but it was the only way. I… I don't have much time so I'm going to have to make this quick._

"_Stay with the captain. He's a good man and will protect you better than I ever could. I've left to formula for your medication should you again need it. I'm sorry I could never cure you, but I am so very proud of how far you have come." Simon laughed and continued, "and you've adapted to our new life better and quicker than I have, just like when we were children. I…"_

"_I need to explain something to Kaylee. Kaylee I'm sorry. I… I should have told you about Lien but I was afraid of how you would react. I can never say the right thing and I never expected that particular part of my life to catch up with me. For what it's worth, I never chose to marry her. It was an arranged marriage, decided by our parents. The same parents that abandoned me and River t-" _

_Simon's voice abruptly ended, but evidence of heavy breathing could be heard in the background. After a moment Simon continued, "Kaylee, I should have trusted with my whole heart but I always kept part of it hidden away. I told myself it was because River needed me more but now I realize I was scared. I made a mistake and if you can find in your heart to forgive me and… and if I can make it back alive… I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back the love and trust you have given me that I never really disserved." Simon took a deep breath and proclaimed, "Kaylee, I love you more than I thought possible and I hope to God I get the chance to prove to you-"_

"_Simon…" an irritated voice called from some distance in the background._

"_I have to go. Mei mei… bao bei… please remember no matter what happens, I love you both!"_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Kaylee sobbed as she kneeled beside River's sleeping form and stroked her hair. "Why'd your brother have'ta go on an' do somethin' so stupid. Top Three Percent ought'a have known I cain't stay mad at 'im forever," Kaylee cried.

"Mei mei, we'll get him back," Inara soothed. "Mal and Zoe are already working on a plan. Everything will be just fine."

"Why couldn't he trust me Inara?"

"Kaylee," Inara said firmly as she grabbed Kaylee by her shoulders and forced the young mechanic to face her, "do you trust me?"

Kaylee sniffled and replied, "'Course, Inara."

"Then believe me when I say his trust issues have nothing to do with you. Simon needs you right now, probably more than even he realizes. We're going to get him back, but we'll need your help to do so. We can't have you doubting yourself."

"Inara, you weren't there, in the cargo bay. He was standin' with this perfect rich core woman, who was really mean by the way-"

"Then maybe she isn't so perfect after all, honestly mei mei, do you really thing Simon would prefer that over you?"

"But I yelled at him. I yelled at 'im and threw my ring at 'im. 'Told 'im he didn't matter and I couldn't trust 'im!" Kaylee balled. "And now he's doin' God know's what with the Core girl to protect River…and me… and all of us really."

Kaylee…" Inara soothed as she wrapped the younger woman in an embrace.

"Why'd he have to be so gorram brave and stupid, 'Nara, why?"

"Love," Inara answered as tears threaten to consume her own eyes. "I suspect love has been responsible for most of his life's decisions. He chose to be a trauma surgeon over more prestigious research, he gave up everything to save his sister and, since he came aboard, I suspect love has made him capable of greater sacrifices. You should be proud of him," Inara said, "he's trying to protect his family. He learned that from you and the captain."

"What if he doesn't wanna come back?" Kaylee asked fearfully, "after what I done to him…"

"His message suggests he hasn't given up on you," Inara answered confidently, "so I wouldn't give up on him just yet."

* * *

"What do ya think Zoe?" Mal asked his second.

"For starters, Sir, I think we should move the ship. I don't like the idea of them knowin' where to find us," Zoe replied.

"Yeah. We should probably park somewhere inconspicuous like but within shuttle range. Not many Fireflies operatin' in these parts, and now that they know what to look for I don't want to make it any easier. What should we do concernin' Simon?"

"Unless the good Doctor manages to leave us a trail of breadcrumbs, the only leads we have on his location is the Wu family name and the secret meeting no one knows about."

"If our intel is correct, the meet's happenin' during the Ball, as the ball provides plausible alibi's. The Ball continues for another four days, so we can assume the meet is near enough for those in attendance to make it there and back again within those days."

"Wouldn't it be easier to hold the meeting nearby and planetside?"

"I thought so, 'til we stole those fruity oaty bars. 'Parently secret meetings outside the big Ball ain't the most original idea's ever been had. My money's on it being in some skyplex or possibly a nearby moon. If we can keep an eye out for any vessels registered under the Wu family we might be able to follow one in."

"Excellent idea, Sir, but what if the alliance decides to provide its own transportation to such as important event?"

"Then we'll be depending on the boy to leave us some breadcrumbs."

* * *

Lien had not been this excited in a very long time. Simon's apparent attachment to that bubbly prairie harpy was a bit worrisome, but he finally saw reason and was even eager to come home with her. Her family would provide the most talented physicians and therapist in the verse to assist them while Lien personally saw to Simon's recovery. With Simon's help, she would track down River and restore the honor and social standing their families lost when he kidnapped his little sister from the Academy a little over a year ago.

Lien was eager to return to her yacht with Simon and 'consummate' the return of their relationship, but her poor fiancé passed out before he even managed to buckle his safety harness after they boarded her shuttle. Lien took the seat beside him and wrapped her arm around him, deciding she would let him rest for what was left of tonight. _My poor 'simple Simon', _Lien thought to herself as she gently pulled his head to rest on her shoulder, _he's a sweetheart, but he's never been very adaptable._ Lien could only imagine how difficult life on the run had been for him. She silently thanked Buddha for his safe return.

Simon's failure to adapt and adjust had often amused and worried Lien. She knew it wasn't due to any lacking of intelligence. After all, he graduated at the top three percent of his class from a prestigious medical school and worked in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the core. Yet, to this very day, Simon was nearly as easy a mark as he was at six years old, when Lien first met the boy.

Her shuttle docked and her security advisor recommended she isolate the fugitive doctor and place him under surveillance, but Lien dismissed his suggestion along with her escorts and ordered an aide to carry Simon to her personal quarters. She informed her advisor that even if Simon were willing, he simply was not capable of endangering her or her company. Lien was confident she could detect Simon's feeble attempts at subterfuge from a mile away should he even try it.

* * *

"_River?" Simon called out to his sister as he reached for her._

_River whirled on him and shouted, "It's not okay! You can't just dig into me, shove twenty needles in my eyes and ask me what I see!"_

"_River, I'm sorry, I'm only trying to help-"_

"_No rutting tests? Stupid son of a bitch, dress me up like a gorram doll!"_

"_River, I-"_

"_Don't make me sleep again…"River pleaded pathetically._

"_River…"_

"Simon? Darling, what's wrong?" Lien's voice called out to him as he felt himself being gently shaken awake.

Simon cautiously opened his eyes and took in the unfamiliar setting. He was in an unfamiliar bed (thankfully, at least partially clothed this time) in an unfamiliar room with his former fiancé. Slowly his mind began to string the pieces together until he remembered what series of events brought him to this point. "Just a dream was all," Simon answered her as he rolled over to face away from her under the pretense of going back to sleep.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tenderly.

"It's… it's no big deal… Really, I'm fine," he assured her. Simon was not entirely confident in his ability maintain his deception over his childhood friend and was determined to keep personal interactions to a minimum until the job was over. Making matters worse, Simon saw Lien as an innocent victim caught in his scheme to save his sister. Simon felt like he was slowly being corrupted each time he had to deliberately lead her on.

Simon flinched when he felt her hand gently squeezing his bare shoulder as she asked, "You're worried about River, aren't you?"

Simon nodded meekly before realizing she probably could not see the motion and softly answered, "Yes."

"It's going to be okay, Simon," Lien soothed. "We'll find her and get her the help she disserves."

Simon remained silent and focused on regulating his breathing. Unsatisfied with his silence, Lien shifted closer until her body pressed snugly into his back and she wrapped her arm possessively around him. She whispered almost conspiratorially into his ear, "I probably shouldn't tell you this, there's a new technology being presented at the meeting, rumored to being capable of tracking down a single person based off of specific reactions of various waves interacting with a person's D.N.A. So don't worry, I'm sure she'll be found soon."

"I'm sorry," Simon muttered.

Lien gave him a gentle squeeze and asked, "For what, dearest?"

"I'm just… I'm sorry."

* * *

"Mal, we might have a problem," Jayne's voice sounded over Mal's personal com.

They had just moved _Serenity _space-side after breakfast almost an hour ago and sent Zoe, Jayne and Inara planet-side with a shuttle to gather information and apparently Jayne was already causing problems. "What did you do Jayne?" Mal asked impatiently.

"I didn't do nothin'! They's taken fingerprints and D.N.A. scans from every man leaves or sets foot on this rock," Jayne replied indignantly.

"Have you been arrested?"

"No, but ya know who-" Jayne's voice was cut off abruptly followed by a pained grunt before Zoe's voice replaced his over the com.

"None of us are in any danger, Sir, but it could make extraction a mite…slower and more difficult. I know how much you hate waiting, Sir," Zoe tactfully informed him over the com.

"Huh. We know why they're doing this?" Mal asked his second.

"I suspect we do, but they don't, Sir. The soldiers claim they're to just fingerprint and take samples of all male that arrive or leave the planet. They're fancy toys will likely alert them as needed should they find who they're lookin' for."

"Gotcha, yall found anythin' else pertainin' towards our interest?"

"We've only just gotten Jayne out of the spaceport. We'll let you know soon as we find anything. How's the… little one?"

"She's… well… she's doing well considerin'. She found the Wu family luxury yacht followed us in. It's best I remain in the cockpit lest she steal my boat and conduct a two woman rescue mission."

"Kaylee too huh? Not that I'm surprised."

"I've convinced them to focus their energies on finding possible space-side meeting locations for the moment. I'm keepin' an eye on the Wu vessel from up here."

"Understood, Sir, we'll contact you when we have more information."

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Mal as he was returning his personal com unit to its place on his belt. He grabbed the shipwide com and called Kaylee into the bridge.

"Yes Cap'n?" Kaylee greeted eagerly as she bounced into the bridge. "Did ya hear from Simon?"

"Uh…no, but I need to know what gizmos he took with 'im when he left here."

"Oh…" Kaylee's enthusiasm visibly slumped with her shoulders. "Looks like he took a could miniature injectors, the armband drug dispenser, a couple o' flash bombs, eye tap computer-"

Mal shook his head as if overwhelmed by the data. "More to the point, Kaylee," He interrupted, "did he take anything we can track him buy?"

"Well… sorta…" Kaylee explained. "The eye tap's a fancy pair o' glasses records everythin' he sees while he wears 'em an' I've rigged 'em to transfer the visual feed to this monitor," Kaylee informed as she pointed to a screen at the copilot's station. "I thought it could help us if he couldn't remember somethin' important, what with the drug's effects an' all. It don't tell us exactly where he's at, but we might can figure it out by lookin' at it."

"Good work, Kaylee, I'll keep an eye out for it."

"Um…Cap'n?" Kaylee asked hesitantly.

"What is it, mei mei?" Mal asked her.

"We have a plan yet?" She asked nervously as her hands fidgeted with a loose string on her coveralls, "'Cause I need to know that we have everythin' planned out. That it's gonna be alright. That's how the plan works, right?"

"Mei mei," Mal said her as he wrapped her in an embrace. "Might be you don't remember my plans so well. But you needn't worry. Simon, the criminal mastermind hisself's got a plan. We're just tryin' to figure out how best to follow it."

"That's what I'm worried about," Kaylee lamented, "I don't think Simon planned on making it back…"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Time to get ready, Simon, we're going back to the Ball," Lien said as she entered her private quarters on her luxury yacht, _Golden Lotus. _"I've had a tailor prepare some suits for you. You're old clothes don't fit you quite right anymore."

_You have no idea how true that is, _Simon thought as he slowly got out of bed. Despite the fact that is was mid-afternoon, Simon had yet to crawl out of bed for the day. Earlier that morning, he convinced Lien to allow him the extra rest to aid in his recovery. "Thank you Lien. Do they… um, do they have pockets?" Simon asked tentatively.

Lien giggled and assured him, "Yes, they have pockets. I remember how nervous you used to get, shoving your hands in your pockets to keep them from fidgeting about."

"Thanks," Simon said with a blush, thankful she would jump to that particular conclusion. Simon still had no idea where the meeting would be held, but he was reasonably confident that he could steal or at least destroy the Alliance tech if he could smuggle in a few flash bombs to serve as a distraction. Though, Simon was not one of the regular 'petty thieves.' He was more than a little worried he was forgetting something. Something besides escaping, he was well aware of that little deficiency in his plan of action.

* * *

"Cap'n I'm getting a visual feed!" Kaylee said excitedly.

"What ya got lil' Kaylee? Can you tell if he's dirt-side or not?" Mal asked.

"He's on the ground and…and he's with that ji nu core witch," Kaylee said irritably. "She's all dressed up so I s'pose we can assume he is too. Wonder how she got 'im past them guards and D.N.A. scans?"

"The rules never apply to the wealthy," Mal answered bitterly. "Though, I suppose that's a good thing this time. Let me know soon as you see a good landmark might show us where they are. I'll fill in our-"

"Stop looking at him like that you ta shi suoyou diyu de biaozi de ma!" Kaylee shouted at the monitor.

"Um… Kaylee… you know she can't hear you, right?"

"That si san ba better hope she ain't nearby when I… when we get 'im back," Kaylee said in an almost adorably threatening manner.

* * *

Atherton Wing stood impatiently as port security scanned his fingerprint and took a sample of his D.N.A. Once he had learned that Inara Serra was attending the Sapphire Ball, he chartered the fastest transport on Persephone to take him and his… assistants… to Londinum. As soon as this worthless peon was through verifying his identity, Atherton would proceed with his plan to capture the lovely companion and exact his revenge on the 'captain' Malcolm Reynolds for destroying his reputation.

* * *

"Zoe," Mal's voice called from her personal com.

Zoe pulled the device from her belt and answered, "Sir?"

"Kaylee's found Simon… sort of," Mal said, "He and Lien were headed towards the ball when she lost his signal. I need one of you to come and get her in the shuttle. Kaylee thinks she could set up her equipment and reacquire his signal closer to planet-side."

"Understood, Sir," Zoe spoke into the com. She turned to Inara and Jayne and relayed the information.

"I'll return to the ball. Perhaps I can intercept him there," Inara said. "But I'll need to change first. It's a good thing we rented that hotel room."

"Jayne, why don't you escort her to the hotel," Zoe said. "A man's just gonna slow us down way things are at the port. I'll pick up lil' Kaylee on my own."

* * *

"So, uh, 'Nara?" Jayne said.

Inara let out a weary sigh and replied, "Jayne, for the last time I do not discuss my business or my clients with anyone."

"Aw, why not? I ain't gonna tell nobody!"

"Professional courtesy."

"I already knew you was professionally courteous-"

"Why don't you focus your mind somewhere more productive?" Inara complained, "If the next words out of your mouth aren't related to our current objective, I will only ignore them."

"Hmm… In that case I have another question."

"Yes?" Inara deadpanned, doubting the ape-man-gone-wrong-thing's ability to say anything intelligent or relevant.

"Ain't that feller behind us one of your clients?"

Inara whirled on Jayne, prepared to give him a verbal lashing despite her promise to ignore him, when she caught a glimpse of a familiar face she hoped never to see again. "Yes, Jayne," she answered, "and we should hurry."

"That's that Mal got in a swordfight with ain't it?"

"It's probably just a coincidence, but we should be careful none the-" Inara interrupted herself when she saw Jayne grab a random passerby and slam him into a nearby wall.

Everyone near them scattered and the mercenary landed a well placed gut blow on the innocent man for good measure. Jayne shouted, "Get the hell outta my face!" and the bystander was quick to comply, running away before he was even capable of standing up straight.

"Jayne, what the hell are you doing?" Inara asked irritably. "Pummeling innocent pedestrians is not how we avoid notice."

"Did ya see how everyone scattered?" Jayne asked as if he were proud of himself.

Inara sighed and resumed walking, "I don't know why I even try…"

"Now we know if someone follows us, it ain't by coincidence."

Inara was not about to admit it openly, but the mercenary did have a point…

* * *

"Kaylee, you about ready?" Zoe asked Kaylee as she furiously packed away tools and equipment.

"Yeah, just about," Kaylee said as she swiped her arm across her brow. She favored Zoe with the most awkward smile the older woman ever saw grace the young mechanic's features. Zoe had never seen Kaylee's smile looking so unnatural. "If you could just get this in the shuttle, I got one more thing in my bunk," Kaylee said and ran away before Zoe gave her answer.

A few moments later Zoe was storing the last of the equipment in Inara's shuttle when she turned to see Kaylee carrying that massive pink monstrosity of a dress she wore to the shindig on Persephone. Zoe arched an eyebrow and asked, "and just what do you expect to be using that for?"

"What if Simon needs me?" Kaylee argued, "I'll need a dress so I can get in the Ball and help him."

"Kaylee, it won't…" Zoe did not have the heart to tell her how ridiculous the dress looked. Thinking quickly Zoe reminded her, "You have to have an invitation or be on the guest list. Remember?"

Clearly unconvinced, Kaylee hung her dress carefully next to a few of Inara's and said, "Well, I'd rather have it an' not be needin' it than th'other way 'round."

Zoe sighed and began prepping the shuttle.

* * *

"Dr. Galen Sushruta and Lien Wu," the herald announced as Simon and Lien entered the ballroom.

Simon was a nervous wreck, and Lien's concerned grip on his arm was not doing him any favors. He quickly turned to the guard stationed near the barrier and began asking, "If you would be so kind as to…

The guard waved him off and used his override, "Not a problem, sir. I remember your cane."

Simon released a heavy sigh as he and Lien walked through the barrier. In hindsight, it turned out to be quite fortunate Simon's cane set off the barrier the night before.

"Simon, are you ok?" Lien asked him quietly, pulling him from his musings.

"I um… just a little nervous," Simon stammered.

Lien giggled, "Simple Simon. Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are when you're nervous?"

Simon swallowed a lump in his throat and thought of Kaylee. Kaylee had told him just that, sometimes moments before he ruined things but putting his foot in his mouth. Simon sighed dejectedly, thinking, _I've done worse than stick my foot in my mouth this time. She may never forgive me._ If Kaylee would not have him, Simon almost hoped he would not make it out of this alive.

"Simon?" Lien called to him again, more than a little concerned.

"I'm fine, really. It's just my injuries," he said lamely.

"Injuries plural? Simon we're going to have to talk about this later."

"Yes, later," Simon agreed automatically before asking, "When and how are we going to this meeting?"

"We'll board an Alliance shuttle in the courtyard in about an hour," Lien explained. "The shuttle will take us directly to the meeting place." Simon tensed and Lien continued soothingly, "Don't worry, they won't be checking identifications. These are not official events and those invited take great pains not to remember each other. We will just be two anonymous attendees with the appropriate documentation. That is all they will need to know."

Simon almost laughed at the irony of the situation. In effect, the alliance's own secrecy and security was making it easier to infiltrate. All he had to do was not screw up for the next couple of hours. He needed something else to occupy his mind before the stress tore him apart. "Lien," Simon asked, "Would you car to dance?"

"Simon, what about your leg?" she responded.

"Honestly, I'm more concerned about my heart," he said sincerely. He regretted his words instantly as he saw the way they lit up her face. Apparently, Lien though Simon was speaking in the metaphorical sense.

"I do believe that is the most romantic thing you have ever said to me," Lien said as she took his hand, "and I would be delighted!"

* * *

(More action coming soon, but it might be like half a week before I get a chance to sit down and work on this some more and I wanted to leave yall a little somethin' a'fore I went.)


	23. Chapter 23

(Been a mite busy lately and for whatever reason this chapter was makin' itself severely difficult to write. Hopefully I'm done being blocked and quicker updates will resume once more)

Chapter 23

A middle aged man of sino ancestry in a white lab coat calmly took a blood sample from a flailing disfigured human strapped to an examining table. The middle aged doctor had just begun examining the sample with a complicated machine when a set of double doors opened to reveal two smartly dressed men in business suits wearing blue gloves. One of the blue hands addressed the doctor, asking, "Have the Miranda Victim samples been provided to your satisfaction, Dr. Wu?"

The doctor let out a weary sigh and answered, "Yes, indeed, they have, but I will not have an answer as to why the G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate failed until I am able to compare their data with that of our only successful adult application."

The other blue handed agent tilted his head slightly and said, "I was not aware there was a successful adult paxilon hydrochlorate application."

"There is not in the sense that you are thinking of," Dr. Wu clarified, "I was referring to our embryonic application trials we began almost thirty years ago. We've had a few partial successes, two of which survived to reach adulthood, and one complete success. Twenty eight years ago we achieved our first partial success. The subject showed an increased intelligence and focus, but also slightly aggressive tendencies. Still the subject was malleable enough and the data was invaluable. I have current data on said subject with me now, however, as a partial success, her data is insufficient.

"A little over twenty five years ago we achieved our first completely successful embryonic PAX application. The subject was very compliant, intelligent, trusting and focused, while exhibiting a more passive and companionate temperament. In short, he was the prototype of the perfect, nonviolent, organized and productive society we were striving to create. I suspect you are more familiar with his sister, River Tam."

"Simon Tam is wanted for kidnapping his sister from a secured government facility and has recently added a wealth of other exploits to his criminal resume, some of them quite violent," The first of the Blue Hands said. "This could hardly qualify as a complete success."

"Graduated in the top three percent of his class from the most prestigious medical academy in the Core and was well on his way to becoming head of medicine. Besides," Dr. Wu said clinically, "he committed those crimes out of love."

One of the Blue Hands remarked, "I fail to see how that is relevant."

"I'm beginning to think it is why the G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate failed. We attempted to adapt and improve on Simon's formula to suppress the stronger elements of compassion to make the subjects more passive and compliant." Dr. Wu shook his head in disgust and said, "It worked.

"As for Simon, had his latent psychic abilities not been an issue, he would never have perceived his sister to be in danger. We did not anticipate his love for his sister being strong enough to override his better nature, but I do not believe the paxilon hydrochlorate was solely responsible for that particular trait. It's a shame we never cloned him, if only for use as a control to measure the changes the PAX caused in the boy, but the Tam family genetic profile did not look very promising at first glance. There was a 15% chance he would not even survive childbirth.

"So," Dr. Wu said as he finally looked up from his research to face the blue handed agents, "now that we have only one suitable test subject, could you kindly update his warrant to ensure that he is captured alive?"

* * *

Simon leaned heavily on his cane as he and Lien made their way into the courtyard. The dancing had quickly worn out his injured leg, which began throbbing painfully. Inconvenient as if was, Simon welcomed to pain. It gave his racing mind something else to focus on.

As Simon watched the Alliance shuttle descend towards him he mentally rehearsed his plan. First off, he would remain silent and faithfully fulfill the role of Lien's 'arm candy,' speaking only when spoken too and even then as little as possible. While a role reversal of that nature was uncommon between genders in most of the core, Lien's family was just famous enough to make it plausible. Once he was safely inside the secret gathering and the demonstration had begun, Simon would deploy a flash bomb grenade and charge the exhibit. With any luck he may be able to destroy the prototype technology and slip back into the panicked audience before anyone recovered from their blindness and daze.

The Alliance shuttle landed and Simon checked the eyetap computer glasses Kaylee had rigged for him to ensure they were still transmitting. It occurred to him the Kaylee was once again his only lifeline, only this time the stakes were higher than his happiness. His very life was in her talented hands. _Her beautiful, strong, gentle and calloused hands…_

Simon shook his head slightly and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. If he made it out of this alive, he would have all the time in the 'verse to find a way to convince Kaylee to take him back.

Simon glanced into the ballroom behind them and sighed. Kaylee deserved to be taken to a fancy ball like this far more than he or the other noble-in-name-only snobs. She deserved to be showered with jewelry and affection and to be treated like the princess she really was. _But what did I do?_ Simon thought to himself bitterly, _I pushed her away, I told her she would fit in better as a servant, and I could not even buy her a gorram engagement ring._

Simon loved and missed Kaylee more than he thought was possible, but he also knew he did not deserve that kind of happiness. Not yet but maybe, just maybe, if he could make the verse just a little safer for his mei mei and his bao bei…

"Simon," Lien's voice interrupted his musings and brought him back into the real world. "Simon, it's time to go. Are you alright?"

Simon responded with a soft neutral groan and followed her into the shuttle.

* * *

"Wait," Kaylee said as hunched over a monitor if fierce concentration, "don't land yet. I think he's boarding a shuttle."

Zoe adjusted their course, pressed a few buttons and informed an annoyed air traffic controller that they would not be landing planet-side after all. After finishing, Zoe turned to face Kaylee and said, "You're sure about this honey?"

Kaylee nodded and said, "Cap'n's right, looks like they're holdin' it in a skyplex after all. Do ya think we could follow 'em in?"

"Ain't like Niska's. See if you can find out what shuttle he's own while I inform the Captain. We can at least keep an eye on his location 'til we can figure out what to do."

"We could get him now," Kaylee said, her eye's pleading, "We can use Serenity and board his shuttle-"

"We'll accomplish nothing. Don't forget why we came here," Zoe said firmly but sympathetically, "Simon's the best chance we've got of protectin' our family. We let Simon do what he needs to and then we can go rescue 'im."

* * *

"You're hungry," River stated from the entrance to _Serenity's_ bridge.

"No, I'm not," Mal replied stubbornly.

"You should get something to eat."

"I ain't leavin' the bridge."

"I can fix you a drink."

"I ain't drinkin' it. Boat's stayin' right where it is. You're brother knows what he's doin'."

"He's a boob and he's no good on his own-"

"And here I thought Simon was the mother hen. You're worse than your brother!"

"Simon doesn't belong there with those people. He's not like them."

"Which is why he ain't stayin'. I suppose Simon ain't quite the stiff upper crusty he once was, be he still looks that part. 'Long as he keeps his wits about 'im they're not of like to notice."

"You don't really believe that," River accused.

Mal let out a weary sigh and said, "No… no I don't. But we can't stop his plan 'fore it has a chance to succeed."

River closed her eyes and appeared to concentrating on something. It could theoretical physics or forming her next coherent sentence for all Mal knew. After a moment, she opened her eyes and said, "He's okay for the moment, but if that changes…" She paused and continued threateningly, "you won't be able to stop me."

* * *

Atherton Wing was furious with the ignorant gorilla of a man the ruined his plans in one senseless act of brutality. With everyone giving the ape-man-gone-wrong-thing such a wide berth, it became impossible for Atherton to trail his target without being noticed. Fortunately a few connections and well placed bribes were enough to give him the address to the hotel Inara was staying at, assuming she had not changed rooms since last evening.

Atherton arrived outside of her suite with two assistants/bodyguards and knocked on the door. His jaw nearly fell to the floor when the door opened to reveal the man-ape from earlier.

Jayne took bite of his apple disinterestedly and said, "Yeah?" his words half muffled by the fruit.

"Er… are you Dr. Galen Sushruta?" Atherton asked disbelieving.

"Nope," Jayne replied and took another bite of s apple.

"Is this the room of one Dr. Sushruta?"

Jayne took his time savoring his latest bite, much to Atherton's annoyance, before finally swallowing and saying, "Nope."

"Is the companion Inara Serra here?" Atherton asked impatiently.

"Nope."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Nope."

"May I come inside?"

"Nope," the brute said as he slammed the door shut in Atherton's face.

Atherton was practically shaking with rage as he ordered to his subordinates, "Keep looking. It appears we have to wrong room." He was not entirely convinced he had the wrong room, but he was fairly certain making a scene here would jeopardize his plans if he really was in the wrong place.

* * *

Inara searched to Ballroom in vain for the second time since they began this ill fated operation. She felt like she let the crew down for not keeping a better eye on the young doctor. Simon's care had been her responsibility and she had failed him. It was no wonder Mal had never considered her part of the crew.

Inara made her way to the courtyard just in time to see two Alliance shuttles taking off. For some reason she could not identify, Inara felt certain that Simon was on one of those transports. She had been out of touch with the rest of the crew since she left Jayne behind in the hotel room and had no means of contacting them to confirm her hunch. Still, there was some logic in assuming the doctor had left the ball via one of those shuttles and Inara just could not shake that incessant feeling. In a bold and reckless move worthy of that hundan they called their captain, Inara walked purposefully toward the remaining shuttle exuding an air of superiority.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The shuttle had just taken off for the skyplex and Lien could feel Simon's nervous energy as she reached over and squeezed his hand. Simon never was any good with heights or space travel. It was a wonder he retained most of his sanity after spending the better part of a year out in the Black. Despite this apparent fear, Simon was very adamant on accompanying Lien to this secret meeting. _That man will do anything for his little sister,_ Lien thought to herself. She found it both infuriating and adorable. It was obvious Simon was interested in the technology that could find his sister. _Perhaps the demonstration will calm his nerves, _Lien thought. Once Simon was assured his sister would be found and attended to, he would be able to focus on starting his own life with her and all would be right in the universe.

* * *

Malcolm Reynolds flipped a few switches on the pilot's console and all but slammed the wheel back into its neutral position. They were now within five miles of the skyplex Simon had boarded. He turned to have River and asked irritably, "Happy?"

"Not happy." Mal's jaw dropped in disbelief and he was about to voice his frustrations before River cut him off and continued, "However, I am satisfied."

"Always gotta be so gorram literal… what are you doing?"

River's hands flew over the communications console she had connected to some jerry-rigged device. Without looking up from her work she informed the captain, "I am working on my brother's escape plan, since he was too lazy to come up with his own."

"Are you hacking? You better not be hacking. I did not give you permission to start hacking."

River's hands suddenly stopped and she said calmly, "I am not hacking at the moment."

River may have been a genius, but she was still a little sister and Mal had years of experience reading little sisters. River was not any better at lying than Kaylee in that respect. "And you weren't hacking just a moment ago?" Mal pressed.

"You may assume as much."

"That don't 'xactly answer my question."

"You have provided insufficient parameters with which to interpret your query," River responded almost angrily, "She cannot answer to your satisfaction."

"That's BS and you know it!" Mal said before sighing dejectedly and adding, "You get us caught, I'll turn you in myself. Collect a big reward, buy a shiney hat and become King of all Londinum."

"Xie xie, Captain Daddy," River said as she returned to her work.

* * *

"Excuse me, miss, but only authorized-"

"She's with me," a well dressed stranger cut off the shuttle guard as he looped his arm through Inara's. Inara recognized this man at once by his posture and voice. He was one of the strangers who informed them of this meeting back on Beylix.

"Thank you," Inara said.

"The pleasure is all mine. These meetings are rather boring and, as they say, misery enjoys company," he responded with a wink. He was obviously more comfortable in this setting than where she had last laid eyes on the man, and, like any politician worth his salt, could flawlessly feign ignorance. For all intents and purposes, Inara was merely a spontaneous diversion for an amorous man in power. They took their seats in the shuttle. As it began to take off the stranger leaned in close and asked her, "How is our favorite doctor?"

Inara silently cursed the companion training that suddenly abandoned her as she tried and failed mask her fear and worry. _Might as well tell him the truth, _Inara thought, _he cannot turn us in without endangering himself and he may just be able to help._ "I don't know… Last I saw him, he was looking a little worse for wear, but he appeared to have found his own way to this meeting. We became separated. To say we are worried about him would be an understatement. I believe he is on one of the shuttles ahead of us."

"I see," the stranger said gravely. "You must understand that I would like to help, but I cannot afford to risk my position in the parliament. If this is to accomplish anything, we need someone inside the parliament who can keep this information from being buried with so many other secrets." He grasped her hand tenderly and secretly slipped an item into her grasp. "I am afraid my assistance must remain indirect."

* * *

Mal's com unit beeped to indicate an incoming transmission. He pulled the device from his belt and answered.

"Mal?" Jayne's voice came through the device.

"Yeah?"

"There… somethin' I could be doin'?"

"Since when are you this helpful?"

"There's nothin' to do here! No whores, no drinks. Well, not the fun kind anyway-"

"Jayne, we need a safe location dirt-side to fall back to in an emergency-"

"I'm bored! It ain't goin' no where-"

Mal abruptly ended the transmission. He turn to River and said, "See what you done? Now everyone thinks they can question my authority, debate my decisions."

"Not new," the young psychic responded with a sing song lilt in her voice.

"This is what happens when ya go soft," Mal grumbled, "They don't respect you. You remember that little albatross, when you grow up and run your own ship, you gotta be a hundan." River giggled and Mal continued more emphatically, "I'm serious! You've seen it on this very boat, what happens when the captain ain't mean enough. Kaylee and your brother have commenced fornicatin' at every spare moment and in places _NOT_ their bunks. Inara decided she can do my job better than I can. Jayne questions my commands… okay that's nothing new but…" Mal's voice trailed off as River began laughing uncontrollably.

Finally, after a moment, she got a hold of herself. "Thanks Captain Daddy, I needed that."

"You're um… welcome," Mal answered awkwardly, still finding his title of 'Captain Daddy' more than a little uncomfortable. "You uh… you take that advice to heart, lil' one. Respect your elders, cause we know a thing or two. Might know something you psychic genius types ain't thought up."

Mal's com unit beeped again and he answered angrily, "I don't care how gorram bored you are, you can stick your head up-"

"Sir?" Zoe's voice interrupted him.

"You're… not Jayne."

"Decidedly not, Sir."

"You um… yes?"

"We've tracked been tracking Simon by his eyetap glasses and his shuttle has landed at the station."

"Good, we observe for now. River's put together a little distraction, should make it easier for us to slip in and extract 'im when the time comes-"

"There's something else you should know, sir."

After a pause Mal responded, "Now why do I get the impression you are about to tell me something I really don't want to hear."

"Inara's there too, sir. We caught her image when Simon glanced at her before quickly turning away. 'Probably so as not to blow her cover."

"So, now we have two we gotta rescue, and we can't even track one of them?"

"That's correct, sir."

"Ta ma duh!"

* * *

"If everyone could please take their seats, the demonstration will begin momentarily," the speaker announced from his podium in the conference hall of the skyplex.

_This is it,_ Simon Tam thought to himself. _Just stay calm, River and Kaylee and the crew are all counting on you. _As soon as Simon was sure he saw the device, he would hurl an optical bomb at the platform and charge the stage with his eyes closed for approximately three seconds. The optical bomb would blind anyone who did not cover their eyes in time, causing chaos He was hoping to take advantage to snatch the device and, hopefully, make his escape. He had not counted on Inara following him here. He could really use her help but, unfortunately, he was in no position to inform her of his plan. Simon just hoped she could escape without drawing to much notice or suspicion.

"As you all know," the speaker began, "the Miranda broad-wave has made it increasingly difficult to maintain order, especially on the Rim. Even in the core, pirates and gangs have become bolder and their numbers have increased. However, denying the existence of 'Reavers,' as they have come to be called, was never a permanent solution and our overall plans remain unchanged. We must merely change the order in which we accomplish them, which is what brings us all to this station."

The speaker paused for dramatic effect while two assistants wearing formal attire and blue gloves entered a room holding a struggling Reaver between them. There was a collective gasp as the audience stared in horror at the raging disfigured humanoid. "Calm down everyone, there is no cause for alarm," the speaker said calmly as he pulled a hand held device out of a suit pocket. "This device is a prototype capable of interfacing with a ship or station's scanning equipment and detecting humans that have been affected by the paxilon hydrochlorate, such as this 'Reaver.' Allow me to demonstrate."

_This can't be right, _Simon thought with panic, _I must be in the wrong place somehow. I must find the device capable of tracking River._

The speaker pressed a button and the operating system and process was projected into a hologram for the audience's convenience. After a moment he pressed a finally key and said, "And as you can see the device has detected the paxilon hydrochlorate within… three creatures in this room? There must be some mistake. I apologize but we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties."

Simon had risked everything for this chance to save his sister and he had to know if this was indeed the device capable of tracking them. Desperate for answers, he grabbed his right bicep and squeezed the armband device through his sleeve, administering the psychic enhancing dose of experimental medication.

(Quick author note, as the plot has thicken there are a few points that may appear inconsistencies I am hesitant to describe directly as it could be somewhat a spoiler to anyone who has not already figured it out. Just remember that the Alliance is a big government and it's less than perfect communication with its various parts is intentional in my writing.)


End file.
